Brotherhood Through Time
by jazzmeister
Summary: See how Ifrit, Bahamut and the other GFs came to be. Pre-game and In-game verse
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own any FF VIII characters. It's Square Enix who owns them.

_Italics_ are for the mental link conversations between/among Guardian Forces.

'' are thoughts of characters.

* * *

Long ago, monsters have already existed and prowled the lands of Gaea. These monsters lived freely but were found as a threat to humans. The monsters are born of different classes and are classified under the eight elements: Fire, Ice, Thunder, Water, Wind, Earth, Holy and Poison.

Monsters and humans were constantly in each others throats, fighting each other to survive. The monsters only wanted to live. The humans, originally created by Hyne to fight for the monsters, changed over time and also wanted to live freely. However, with the powers of the monsters, humans found it hard to keep fighting and they were in the brink of extinction.

To balance out the battle, Hyne created several monsters that surpassed the abilities of other monsters. Those creatures were created to protect humans and help them in keeping the race alive. These creatures are the Guardian Forces, masters of the elements.

* * *

In Trabia Continent, a small town by the forest rest quietly. Snow covered the roofs of houses and the roads. Even in the cold, the humans work and play around in peace until…

"EVERYONE RUN!!" a man cried.

"THE MESMERIZES ARE ATTACKING!!" a woman screamed, almost as loud as the man did.

As the people started to scramble out of the streets to hide, the Mesmerizes dashes through, hacking and slashing at everything they see. The guards of the town get into formation, wielding different weapons: swords, spears and such. The guards try their best to keep the blade-horned rams at bay but they were losing badly…

"ARGH!! Damn it! Why did this have to happen?!" one of the guards as he blocked a mesmerize's attack.

"Mesmerizes are normally quiet until some one enters their territory!" a guard said before he swung his sword and kills one. "Why did they attack when we didn't disturb them?"

"That's just a whole lot of crap!" another guard shouted. "These monsters will always attack for no reason… but… The strange thing is…" The guards finishes off the current mob they were fighting and saw that they were surrounded by another mob. "They came with more of them and they are more aggressive.

"What do we do now?!" a guard said fearfully.

"DIAMOND DUST!!" a loud female voice echoed through the streets.

Suddenly a strong and cold gust of wind rushed through, freezing some of the mesmerize and other materials on its path. The humans were unharmed though.

"Lady Shiva?" a guard asked to no in particular.

A woman then fell from the sky and landed on the ground unharmed. The woman had blue skin and had a long, yellow, hair-like appendage on her head. Ice was forming on where she stood…

"Is everyone alright?" Shiva asked without taking her eyes off the mesmerizes.

"So far, yes." The captain of the guards started. "There are some injured but most of us are fine, Lady Shiva.

"Good. Take care of the wounded." The ice queen steps forward, making the mesmerize to assume their fighting stance. "I'll wrap this up." The guards just nodded and left to the injured.

The mesmerizes eyed Shiva evilly and the said GF looked calmly at the rams. The monsters then charged and some of them flung the blades on their heads as boomerangs.

"None of you ever learn…" Shiva sighed. She raised her right arm into the air and then the snow around her converged above the Ice GF. The snow combined creating spears of ice. "Blizzard Javelins!!" Shiva swung her hand so it would point to the blade rams and the spears were launched immediately. The javelins struck the mesmerizes but only on the blades, shattering their weapons. The now-bladeless mesmerizes glared at Shiva…

"Be thankful that I only broke you horns. If I wanted to, I could have impaled you in an instant." The mesmerizes growled in reply, anger was evident in their voices. "Now, be gone!" Shiva shouted then the monsters hesitantly escape.

Shiva sighed then felt a sudden intrusion in her mind which signaled that someone was contacting her. _"… Tiamat, what is it?"_

* * *

Somewhere over the ocean, two dragons can be seen flying. A small dragon was flying in different direction while the larger dragon was hovering on one spot, observing the smaller one…

"_I sensed your power." _Tiamat stated. _"Another monster attack?"_

"_As usual…"_ The Ice Queen sighed. _"They've gotten more aggressive than normal. Could it be because of the energy distortions we've been experiencing?"_

"_We're still not sure. Let's just keep our senses up."_

"_As serious as ever, eh, Tiamat?" _Shiva chuckled. _"So how's little Bahamut? Improving?"_

"_Somewhat…" _Tiamat replied. _"He still has a long way to go but he's not giving up just yet."_

"_Must be your stubbornness rubbing off on him." _Shiva chuckled. Tiamat could feel Shiva laughing on her side of the link. Contradictory to her form, Shiva's presence always did give a warm, comforting feeling.

"_Don't talk about me like that…" _Tiamat mumbled. His left eyebrow was twitching at Shiva's remark.

Another wave of hilarity was running through the link. Shiva was laughing again but it didn't take long for her to feel the slight agitation from Tiamat. _"But seriously, Bahamut's just working hard to be just like you." _The Ice GF stated. _"It is a lot to live to when you are the brother of an Alpha GF."_

* * *

While Tiamat and Shiva are talking through their link, a younger GF is trying his best to keep himself steady in the air. Bahamut eventually stabilizes after a few crashes on the water and flying in circles.

The younger dragon was about to see how fast he can fly when he saw his brother staring off into the distance…

'Must be talking to the others…' Bahamut thought. Just then, an idea came to the younger dragon and it made him smile devilishly. Bahamut flew to the spot behind Tiamat. He inhaled deeply and then let out a loud roar.

Tiamat jumped at the loud sound. The older dragon spun around and glared at his brother, who was laughing loud and hard.

"_What was all that about?" _Shiva asked

"_Bahamut surprised me..." _Tiamat grumbled. "What was that for?!"

"B-Because you were staring off and I thought it was f-funny!" Bahamut couldn't stay put or talk normally because of his laughter. His tail was swinging with amusement.

"_I gotta admit that was funny." _The ice queen laughed.

The Alpha dragon face-palmed. "Great… Now Shiva is laughing…"

"Big Sister Shiva is listening?!" Bahamut chirped. His tail was now swinging quickly at the knowledge of Shiva, one of his favorite caretakers, was listening in. At this point, Shiva opened the link to Bahamut as well.

"_Hello Bahamut." _Shiva greeted. _"How have you been? That prank was nice."_

"_I'm fine and thanks!"_

Tiamat cleared made a sound like clearing his throat through their link to stop any further embarrassment. _"Now that we got that out of our systems, can we get back to more important business? Like training?"_

"_Aww… Can't I play for a bit?" _Bahamut complained.

"_Listen to your brother, Bahamut." _Said a strange deep voice from the link.

"_You too, Big Brother Griever?"_

* * *

Over in the Fire Cavern of Balamb, two lion-like creatures, one with wings and one without wings, were going training. The wingless lion was meditating in the middle of the lava pool while the winged one was watching…

"_Now, now, you do want to be like your brother don't you?" _Griever asked to Bahamut.

"_I do but…"_ Bahamut started. _"It was hard enough learning how to fly, learning those magic and controlling my abilities. You guys want me to train more?"_

"_Yes." _Griever and Tiamat said in unison.

"_But why isn't Ifrit trained this hard?"_

"_For two reasons. One is he doesn't have any wings and two, he only focuses on one element." _Griever explained

"_Sometimes I just envy the other GFs simplicity."_ Bahamut sighed.

"_Don't say things like that Bahamut." _Griever said in a soft, comforting voice. _"You should be proud that you received such powers."_ Bahamut stayed silent for a while. He was contemplating on what the Alpha lion GF said. _I have faith in your powers. I'm sure you'll be a great GF someday."_

"_Right!"_ Bahamut smiled. _I'll be greater than Big Brother and protect the humans with my power!"_

"_That's the spirit!"_ Griever laughed.

"_Griever, have you sensed the energy disturbances?" _Tiamat said, breaking the pep fest.

"_Yes and it looks like it's getting worse everyday." _Griever replied.

"_What disturbances?" _Bahamut asked, his head cocked to the side in sign of confusion from what the older GFs are talking about.

"_It's still minor so you can't sense it yet." _Shiva explained.

Tiamat and Griever was in a deep discussion about the energy fluctuations when a new voice came through the link…

"_BIG PROBLEM!!"_ The voice said.

"_Leviathan, what is it?" _Tiamat asked worriedly.

"_It's Diablos! He's wreaking havoc!" _Leviathan said in a hurry.

* * *

Next chapter- Danger! Diablos attacks! Will the other GFs be able to stop Diablos on his rampage? Find out next time.

Please read and review. No flames please.


	2. Chapter 2

"_Diablos is wreaking havoc in Deling!"_ Leviathan hollered through the mind link among him, Shiva, Griever, Tiamat and Bahamut_._

"_Should have known this would happen…"_ Shiva sighed. The GFs already felt something strange about Diablos. The devil GF never was keen on teamwork and helping humans. Bahamut, who was afraid of Diablos, was quivering.

"That idiot…" Tiamat spat. "Bahamut, you come with me." He then opened his link to Griever again. _"Griever, can you come?" _

"_Yeah, I'll leave Ifrit with Queazacotl." _Griever replied.

"_Alright." _Tiamat extended his link to all the GFs except Diablos. _"Attention, all available GFs in Galabadia! Diablos has been sighted in Deling and is attacking the humans. Converge but do not intercept until Griever and I arrive."_

Up in the mountains of Dollet, two half-bull creatures, one small and one bigger, were standing guard but one was about to leave. "C'mon big bro, we have to go to Dollet!" The taller creature whined.

"Do you really think we can do anything over there, Sacred?" The smaller one asked. "I mean, Diablos can fly and we can't."

Sacred groaned and hung his head in defeat. "Man, you really know how to be a buzz kill, Minotaur."

"Trust me; you'll thank me for it someday."

Just over Timber, Tiamat and Bahamut were flying at incredible speeds. They may be fast but the expanse of the world just cancels it out. While flying, Tiamat noticed how Bahamut looked worried and frightened. It dawned the older dragon that this was Bahamut's first major battle and fighting someone of the same kind wasn't helping.

"Don't be afraid, Bahamut…" Tiamat waited for a response. When nothing came, he continued. "You'll do fine. This is hard for all of us but what we will do is for the best."

"But what if I-" Bahamut started.

"Don't think about it too much." The older GF interrupted. "Just use everything I taught you and you'll be fine."

"A-Alright.."

In Deling, corpses litter the streets and blood was running through the storm drains from the dead bodies. Diablos was attacking the humans with his claws and magic. Not far are GFs Siren, Leviathan, Carbuncle and Cerberus, who were observing their teammate-gone-rogue.

Just a few minutes later, Griever, Tiamat and Bahamut landed beside the four. Griever was the first to speak. "So far how many casualties?"

"About 30 and still increasing." Carbuncle said.

"Diablos, what the hell are you doing?!" Tiamat shouted at Diablos.

Diablos just spared a glance at his superior then went back to killing. "Killing that's what! I've had enough of protecting these humans!"

"Have you lost it?!" Cerberus snapped. "You know that our objective is to guard the humans!"

"Why should we protect those who defile our elements?!" Diablos defended as he was looking for other humans to torture. "They have no sense of gratitude for what we do for them."

"Diablos, please stop!" Leviathan pleaded.

"Such weak creatures these humans are…" The gravity GF mumbled. "They should be destroyed.

"Diablos, bite your tongue!" Siren scolded.

"Big Brother, please listen to them!" Bahamut, though being scared, pleaded as well.

"Diablos, if you continue your actions, we will have enough reason to attack you in the name of Lady Hyne!" Tiamat warned.

At the warning, Diablos stopped and grinned devilishly at the group. "You think you guys can defeat me? Isn't it a bit unfair fighting six on one?"

"You brought this unto yourself!" Cerberus growled. "You should have known the consequence of disobeying orders will be dire. COUNTER ROCKETS!!!" Cerberus roared and from the mouths of the three heads, yellow beams shot out towards the sky. Then the sky lit up with blinding intensity for a second and the light disappears. Double and Triple status were achieved in an instant.

"Now," Cerberus started. "Feel regret for your actions!" Cerberus charges at Diablos. Claws out and tail ready.

"The only regret I have is for trusting the humans for so long!" Diablos then charges at full speed.

Diablos and Cerberus goes at it, all actions have hint of second thoughts. Scratching, biting, tail whipping and spells of different elements were the spectacles happening in front of the others.

"Please stop!" Bahamut shouted but the two didn't hear the younger dragon over their squabble.

"Looks like there's no other choice…" Leviathan sighed. Even without looking, he knows that the other GFs were against it, especially Bahamut, but given the circumstance, it can't be helped.

"Alright, GFs ATTACK!!" Griever shouted.


	3. Chapter 3

Griever, Tiamat and Leviathan all rushed in towards Diablos as the devil was fighting against Cerberus. Cerberus and Diablos were almost evenly matched in both speed and strength but in terms of magic, Cerberus would be superior.

When Cerberus jumped towards Diablos, claws ready to slash, the latter flicked the three-headed canine away with his wing. Diablos then saw the group coming and it infuriated him more.

"Don't make fun of me! GRAVIJA!!!" Diablos bellowed. The gravity GF raised his right arm high and on top of it, a black energy ball appeared. He then threw it towards the other GFs.

"Carbuncle!!" Siren said in almost shout volume.

"I can't!!" Carbuncle said in a not so softer volume.

The energy ball then exploded and covered the GFs in darkness. Griever, Tiamat, Cerberus, Leviathan, Siren and Bahamut cried and grunted at the feeling of intense pressure around there bodies. It was like their lives were literally being squeezed out of them. After a while, the dark mist dissipated, leaving the ones in it panting and gasping for air.

"W-why…" Bahamut stuttered, still recovering from the hit. "Couldn't Carbuncle… R-reflect it?"

"It was a Class A all-magic." Cerberus stated. The canine GF shook his head then stood ready to attack again. "Normally, class A spells can be reflected but if it can target multiple enemies without the help of Double or Triple, then it can pass through."

"Luckily, Diablos' spells are all gravity elementals so it won't kill us." Siren said.

"Yes but once I weaken you enough, I can kill you with my own hands." Diablos raised his right hand to his lips and licked the human blood that was still sticking to his hand.

"Not if we defeat you first! Siren!" Leviathan called. At the call of her name, Siren plucked a string on her harp. The note produced was high and sharp. Siren closed her eyes then lets out a high-pitched scream towards Diablos. The target then covered his ears with his hands.

"WATER TRIPLE!!!" Leviathan rose up so he was at level with Diablos. He raised his wings and from under it, spheres of water, the size of bowling balls, appeared. The sea serpent flapped his wings and launched the water balls to Diablos. The spheres exploded with loud splashes at contact.

"Heh… You really think that's gonna stop me, Leviathan? You're sadly mistaken." Diablos laughed, though some pain was obvious in his voice. "DEMI!!"

"Watch out!!" Leviathan was being covered by a dark spot again. The serpent could already feel the pressure but Carbuncle rushed towards the dark spot and entered it.

Once inside, Carbuncle's ruby on his forehead shone brightly. "REFLECT!!" The light was able to overcome the dark spot and demi disappeared. On Diablos' side, the demi reappeared around him and he got hit by his own spell.

"Give up now, Diablos." Griever said calmly. "You know you can't defeat all of us."

"Why don't you just give up now?" Cerberus asked. "You might still be forgiven. Phoenix might still be able to heal everyone."

"No! I've gone too far to turn back now!"

"I'm sorry to hear that." Tiamat sighed. "I guess we'll have to bring you down."

"If you can catch me." Diablos turned around ready to fly away and escape until a new voice came.

"Meteor Strike!" said by a low pitch voice. A fireball was headed for Diablos and exploded right on the devil's face.

"Static Wings!" a slightly higher pitched voice said. A bolt of electricity zips through the air and nits Diablos, electrocuting him.

"It's Quezacotl and Ifrit!" Siren said, pointing towards a black spot heading their way. Quezacotl was trying to fly towards the group of GFs while Ifrit was hanging on the bird's tail. The duo joined the others shortly but Quezacotl could feel Griever staring at him.

"Quezacotl, I thought I told you to keep Ifrit out of here."

"I'm sorry! He forced his way here and I tried to reason with him but he wouldn't listen!" Quezacotl defended quickly while hiding under his own wings. He came out when he was sure Griever wasn't gonna hit him, which was not long considering the situation.

"So it is true. Diablos has gone haywire." Ifrit whispered to no one in particular.

Diablos looked at Ifrit and grinned evilly at the younger GF. "So, Ifrit, you think a cub like you can defeat me?"

"Oh you can count on it!" The young lion snapped.

"Quezacotl, who is left in charge of Balamb?" Griever asked.

"I asked Pandemona to take over for a while."

"Tsk… No matter how many you guys are, you won't beat me! You'll have to-!" Just then Diablos was interrupted by pillars of light raining down on him. The pillars stabbed at him like spears but didn't leave any puncture wounds. A moment later, the pillars stopped coming and Diablos rose up again. "You too, Alexander?!" Diablos growled towards the sky.

"Ifrit, go and attack now." Griever said so that he and his group could hear him. Ifrit just nodded in response then moves towards Diablos.

"You should go too, Bahamut." Tiamat urged sternly but also gently.

"A-alright…" Bahamut moves forward as well.

"Meteor Strike!" Ifrit created a fireball from his hands and threw it towards Diablos.

"Impulse!" Bahamut opened his wings wide and multiple energy spheres appeared. He then flapped his wings and the spheres were hurdling to the gravity GF at incredible speeds. Both attacks hit but Diablos seemed unfazed by it.

"Were those the best you can do?" Diablos asked mockingly. "Gravity Bind!" A strong pressure was then exerted on Bahamut's and Ifrit's bodies. Bahamut crashed down next to Ifrit as the flame lion was struggling to get free.

"Kids!" Carbuncle cried. He was about to rush towards Diablos when Tiamat's hand blocked his way.

"Don't interrupt them, Carbuncle." Tiamat ordered.

"They'll get out of that. Trust them." Griever spoke without taking his eyes off the battle.

Diablos approached the two captured GFs and stared at them. "So…" Diablo started. He raised his right arm up, claws ready to cut. "Any last words?"

"Got a few ones…" Ifrit looked at Bahamut. "Bahamut, now!" He then went back to Diablos. He moved his hands so his palm would face Diablos. "FIRAGA!!!"

Bahamut squirmed so he can shift his hands like Ifrit did. "THUNDAGA TRIPLE!!!"

Lightning and fire engulfed Diablos. His roars of pain could be heard even to Dollet. By being hit, his concentration was broken and the two young GFs were released from their binds. The older GFs were cheering on the younger duo.

"Finish it!"

Ifrit and Bahamut uses both of their limit break attacks, Hellfire and Mega Flare. Seeing the younger GFs getting ready to attack, the others use their attacks as well. After taking the hit, Diablos crashed on the ground and everything went black.


	4. Chapter 4

Three days after Diablos' rampage, the Guardian Forces have helped the humans on fixing the damages done by the battle. The humans that were wounded or dead were helped by Phoenix. Everything was back to normal.

The GFs were currently gathered in the Trabia mountain ranges where Alexander was stationed. They usually meet their so it doesn't bring the Holy GF any inconvenience.

Everyone was there. The list consisted of the 16 GFs of the present time (16 because of Minotaur and Sacred), the two elites, Phoenix, Odin and three knights. The first was Saemonzaburo (Zaburo for short) who looked like a man in red samurai armor. He wields Masamune. Second is Griflet who was a medieval knight wearing a white silver armor and yellow eyes glowing through his helm. He wields Excalibur. Lastly was Lamorak who looked like a young man with chestnut brown spiky hair with a long with bandana on his forehead. He wields Excalipoor. Everyone was there except Diablos.

Tiamat looks around to check the ones who attended then nodded. "It looks like everyone's here." The GFs were all on the ground, forming a circle.

"So, what happened to Diablos?" Phoenix inquired from where he was perched.

"He went berserk from what the humans do to the environment." Pandemona said, looking at the flame bird. He then looked up to the sky and sighed. "To be honest, I don't blame him though."

"Pandemona, don't tell us you're-!" Cerberus gasped .

Pandemona shook his head and laughed a bit. "Don't worry…" Pandemona reassured. "You know I'm smarter than that."

"So what do we do with Diablos?" Shiva asked.

"I say let's beat some sense into his head." Sacred, the minotaur with red armor, said. He banged his mace into the ground, creating a small quake to give his point.

"I agree." Odin said, nodding at the minotaur's idea. He was standing on his own, smirking, while his horse, Sleipnir, was sitting behind him.

"No." Griever said in his deep, leading tone. "We thought about it and we settled on sealing him in a lamp. We then hid him in the Centra ruins."

Alexander shifted a little. The gears and other mechanisms inside him whine as he moved. "Isn't that a bit too much?" The giant humanoid castle asked.

"Nah… He deserved it." Minotaur, the older, shorter and wears blue colored armor of the minotaur brothers, said. This statement resulted in a flurry of comments and remarks from the other GFs.

After a while, a banging sound could be heard. Tiamat was continuously swinging his tail up and down from the ground. When the GFs have settled down, the alpha dragon stopped his tail. "Alright, moving on. Our next order of business is about the semi-GFs."

Griever spoke up once more. "Back when we were born, there were already some monsters which were strong enough to reach the lower limit of our stage as Guardian Forces. We already have identified two of them: the Tonberrys and Cactuars."

Tiamat looked towards Odin. "So Odin, how are the tonberrys?"

"Tch… As annoying as ever…" Odin said coldly. "If they weren't surrogate GFs, I would have started killing every one of them. They're small and insignificant!"

"Well, Tonberry is not the sharpest tool in the shed but at least they haven't wreaked any trouble with their powers." Carbuncle said from where he was sitting on the ground. He was scratching the back of his ears while he said it.

"Cactuar is also doing a good job of improving his abilities." Leviathan stated. "It's a plus point that no one lives in areas near Kashkabald so he can only fight with monsters."

"Cactuar would be a great GF if he wasn't such a coward." Quezacotl sighed, shaking his head.

Siren smiled at Quezacotl but her eyebrows were furrowed, showing concern. "Now Quezacotl, you really shouldn't talk about Cactuar like that."

In return, Quezacotl avoided eye contact with Siren. He lowered his head and his wings were folded tightly to his body. The other GF heard the thunder bird mutter 'It's true.' which made some chuckle.

At the other side, stood the three knight GFs. All three of them were the height of Odin.

"There have been reports of a mystery GF prowling around Gaea, looking for some skilled swordsmen." Griflet said. His body was hidden behind a blue cloak.

Lamorak nodded and added his own thoughts. "I've heard of that as well. I also heard that the GF takes great interest in his opponents' weapons." Unconsciously, he held his sword's handle tight.

Zaburo, who stood in the middle of the two other knights, placed a hand on the shoulders of his comrades in a comforting manner. "We should keep our guard up then. We don't know if this person will target us or not." He then faced Odin. "That goes for you too, Odin." Odin just waved the warning off him.

"By the way, how is Doomtrain coming along?" The right head of Cerberus asked.

"Doomtrain?" Bahamut finally spoke up.

"Who's that?" Ifrit followed.

"Doomtrain is an incomplete GF. Lady Hyne created him at the same time she created us but for some reason, his tructure couldn't hold." Pandemona explained to the younger GFs.

"So is he…?" Bahamut hesitantly asked, expecting a bad answer.

"Doomtrain's pretty much alive but just sealed away until he is completed. He is kept inside a ring in Tears' Point, Esthar." Pandemona reassured the young dragon.

"Alright, now that that's settled, we can now move to our main topic." Tiamat said.

At this the other GFs were confused. Zaburo decided to voice out what he and the others were thinking. "You mean, the situation with Diablos was not our main topic?" The other GFs nodded.

Griever and Tiamat chuckled a little then looked at the other GFs with smiles. "No. We called you here because our creator, Lady Hyne, is about to awaken." Griever explained.

"Seriously!? When?" Lamorak asked with sudden excitement in his voice.

"It is expected to be in three days." Griever replied. This was followed by a sudden eruption of cheers and talking among the other GFs. They were all excited to see their "mother" after all those years she was asleep.

"Of course this is special for Ifrit and Bahamut since this is the first time they'll see Lady Hyne." Shiva said loudly to get the others attention. All of them agreed and they were all even more excited after hearing that.

Tiamat rose up into the air to look the other GFs over. "Alright, let's start the preparations for Lady Hyne's awakening." The older dragon said. The others cheered in agreement and so the preparations are about to begin.


	5. Chapter 5

It has been precisely three days since the Guardian Forces of Gaea have come together. For the past few days, they have done their best to make the awakening of their creator, Hyne, perfect. The helped with the restoration of those damaged by monsters and they kept a good lookout for any hostile forces. They also told the humans about the awakening of Hyne. Humans all over the world decorated their towns and cities with different ornaments. All were celebrating in honor of their creator.

The GFs, except Alexander, were all levitating over the ocean, north of Deling City. They have sensed that their current position was where Hyne would arise. They formed over the spot and waited.

"Now you two, behave yourselves alright?" Siren said to the young GFs, Bahamut and Ifrit. Both nodded at the reminder.

Bahamut looked towards his brother who was floating to his left. "What is Lady Hyne like?" A pang of nervousness could be detected in the smaller dragon's voice.

Tiamat thought long and hard. He didn't know what to say to his brother, literally. "Well… Er… To tell you the truth, we didn't get to know her that much." Tiamat said, scratching the top of his head and smiling sheepishly.

"After she created the humans, Gaea and its inhabitants, she created us." Pandemona stated flatly. "When all of us were born, she told us of our objective then went straight to sleep, leaving us to grow up on our own."

Griever made a hushing sound. With that, all the conversations ended and the other GFs stared at Griever, who was looking down on the water. "She awakes…"

From the calm waters, a bright light shone brightly and bubbles appear more and more. Minutes later, the water exploded and from it, a coffin made from a crystal similar to diamond rose up. Inside the case was a slender woman with rosy pink complexion and was wearing a black robe. She had long, flowing, black hair and multiple unusual accessories were adorning it. The crystal case shattered leaving the woman floating on mid-air. The woman opened her eyes and simultaneously, the GFs kneeled and bowed.

"Lady Hyne, it is a pleasure to see you once more after all these years." Griever spoke, still looking down.

"We're all happy to see you alive and well." Tiamat said.

Hyne looked around her to inspect the GFs then nodded. "I am pleased to see you, my children." Hyne said in a soft, motherly tone. She had a very noble accent; something like a queen's accent. "I trust you have done what I have asked you to do? Forgive me for leaving you with such a task at a young age."

"T'was nothing to us," Cerberus' three heads spoke. "It is an honor to serve you."

The sorceress looked around once more and noticed something different. "Where are Alexander and Diablos?"

Leviathan raised himself a little before answering. "Alexander is in Trabia since he has trouble of moving from his location." Leviathan then bows again. "He sends his deepest apologies… And…"

"Diablos has been sealed away…" Pandemona said nonchalantly.

Hyne was struck by what she heard and gasped. More so, the others didn't even look angry or sad about this fact. She brought back her composure and cleared her throat. "Why in Gaea is he sealed?"

"It is because he went against your orders and attacked the humans." Shiva replied.

"It was the only way we could find so he will not repeat his crime. Please forgive us." Lamorak pleaded.

Silence covered the area, leaving the sound of the wind and the waves echoing through. Hyne thought for a minute and nodded. "I see… Alright… What about Doomtrain? He is not completed yet, is he? And Cactuar and Tonberry, are they alright?"

"Yes, and yes." Siren said.

"Good." Hyne then turned towards the two youngest GFs, who have kept silent and kneeling. "My, my, who are these two young gentlemen?"

"Lady Hyne!" Griever and Tiamat said simultaneously. The duo moved towards the spot behind their respective brothers. When they stopped, Bahamut and Ifrit stood up to face Hyne. "Lady Hyne, I believe you remember Ifrit?" Griever gestured to the red lion. "And Bahamut." Tiamat did the same but to the smaller dragon. The younger GFs bowed in front of the sorceress then stood back up to face her once more.

Hyne gasped at the realization. She didn't really recognize them until she had a closer look at them. "You mean to tell me that these two are the same Ifrit and Bahamut that were just babies when I went to sleep?"

The four GFs in front of her nodded at the same time. Bahamut and Ifrit then took a step forward. "It's a pleasure to see you, Lady Hyne." Ifrit said solemnly. "Indeed, it has been a long time, Lady Hyne." Bahamut said innocently.

"Ah… Such fine youths… Just like your brothers…" Hyne smiled at them and patted them on their heads. "I'm proud to see both of you all grown up."

"Thank you." Bahamut and Ifrit spoke simultaneously.

Hyne around once more then, "So how are the humans I created?"

"They have developed very well." Quezacotl answered. "They have started to colonize the different parts of the world."

"How can that be?" Hyne gasped in shock. "I estimated that the population of the humans would stay relatively the same with only a very small percentage of deviation."

"The humans' reproduction rate has escalated at an exponential rate. With the building of towns and cities in different parts of the world and the technology that they have discovered, they felt comfortable in their place resulting in starting of families and a booming reproduction rate." Minotaur stated.

"They have colonized parts of the five continents." Sacred continued the explanation. "They are limited because the monsters have become unusually unstable."

Hyne fell silent. She was taking in everything that the GFs had told her. A minute later, she faced them again. "I understand. My I see the map and areas of where the humans are?" Tiamat gestured towards Carbuncle and from the ruby on his head, the rabbit-like GF projected a red hologram of the map.

[6 Months later-Over Kashkabald Desert]

"Blizzaga!!" Bahamut bellowed; a sphere of ice energy was shot towards his sparring partner, Ifrit.

"Firaga!!" The red lion shouted, throwing a large fireball towards Bahamut. The two spells collided, resulting into a huge explosion. The two GFs then charged at each other, ready to strike the other with all their might.

In the sidelines of the battle, Tiamat and Griever stood on the sand dunes of the desert, watching their brothers fight. "Ifrit has grown well." Tiamat said.

"So has Bahamut."

"Meteor Strike!!" Ifrit gathered his energy into his mouth then launched the sphere to Bahamut.

"No use!" Bahamut opened his wings wide then moved them to his front, making a shield. Ifrit's Meteor Strike exploded on contact but when the smoke cleared, Bahamut appeared to be unharmed.

"Nice move Bahamut!" Tiamat shouted towards his brother before the younger dragon continued with his fight.

"It's been quiet since Lady Hyne has awakened, don't you think?" Griever asked.

The dragon nodded. "Yes… The monster attacks have lessened in frequency… But… The energy distortions…"

Griever nodded this time. "It has gotten stronger…"

"I have a bad feeling about this… I can feel it… Something's about to happen…"

"Big brother?" A young voice rang. When both Tiamat and Griver looked in front of them, they saw Ifrit and Bahamut standing there, they were quivering and their eyes were wide open with fear.

"Kids, what's wrong?" Griever asked, concern laced his voice.

"Th-There's something coming…" Ifrit said in a shaky manner.

"Something bad…" Bahamut continued.

_This is Pandemona!_ The wind GFs voice suddenly blared out in their mindlink. _We have a situation! Balamb is being overrun by Glacial-Eyes and T-Rexaurs._

_Alright, we'll send-_ Tiamat said but was interrupted by another voice.

_Shiva here._ The ice GF's usual soft voice was now loud with a slight fear. _Mesmerizes and Snowlions are wreaking havoc in Tronel!_

_What!?_ Griever blurted out. _Alright, we're sending assistance as we speak. Please hold on._ Just then, when the two elite GFs thought it couldn't go worse…

_Leviathan, reporting from Dollet. We're under attack here!_

_Hey we need help over here!!_ Odin's loud, gruff voice came into the mindlink.

_Esthar is in trouble! _Quezacotl screeched. _Monsters are on the rampage. Requesting back-up!_

"Wh-What's happening!?" Griever asked to no one in particularly, utterly shocked and confused by the situation.

"We don't know but it has something to do with the energy fluctuations. It just spiked!" Tiamat stated loudly.

_Hey guys?_ Minotaur's voice came through the link. _I think you might want to go to Windhill._

_What is it, Minotaur? _Tiamat asked, fearing what is happening to why they Earth Brothers needed the presence of the two elites.

_It's Lady Hyne!_ Sacred voice answered. _She's attacking the humans!_

_WHAT!?_ Ifrit, Bahamut, Tiamat and Griever yelled through the link simultaneously.


	6. Chapter 6

There was almost nothing left in Windhill. The houses burned and crumbled, bodies and blood were spread across the land, screams of frightened people echoed through the air. Monsters scoured the village to deal more damage while not far from them was Hyne, casting a multitude of spells, wreaking havoc of her own. No mortal was safe from this rampage.

The Earthly brothers, Minotaur and Sacred, moves around town, vanquishing any monsters in their way. Meanwhile, four beings landed and were stunned by the scene.

"H-How could she..?" Ifrit asked edgily.

Bahamut looked up at his brother; his own wings were folded around him as if hugging himself. "Big brother, why is she doing this?"

"I… I… have absolutely no idea." That statement felt like the understatement of the century. Although he couldn't think of a more appropriate answer, Tiamat felt like it wasn't enough. Usually, Tiamat and Ifrit would know everything about anything but now, he was absolutely clueless which brought more fear to Bahamut. Tiamat turned to Griever. "What do we do? We can't attack our creator."

The black lion growled, gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. "I can't truly say that I disagree… But we can't leave the humans to die like this."

"I don't think we'll be able to beat her with just the four of us." The fire lion stated.

Griever nodded then stared to the sky, opening his side of the mind link of the Guardian Forces. _Attention all Guardian Forces! _Griever's commanding voice erupted in the minds of all the GFs._ This is top priority mission! Destroy all the monsters in your area as soon as possible. Carbuncle, put up a barrier around the human territories once their cleared._

_I'll try._ Carbuncle's voice replied. His voice was carrying uncertainty.

_We're counting on you. Once the barrier is up, everyone converge in Windhill._ Griever spoke.

_What will you do?_ Phoenix asked.

_Bahamut, Tiamat, Ifrit and I will try to talk to Lady Hyne. We need you guys in case she doesn't listen to our words alone._

_Please be careful._ Siren said worriedly. At that, the communication was terminated.

Griever faced his three companions. "Are you guys ready?"

"I'm ready." Tiamat said.

"Big brother…. I don't think I can…" Bahamut uttered nervously. Ifrit, on the other hand, was dead silent while looking at the ground.

The two elites looked at each other then to their younger brothers. They approached Ifrit and Bahamut then held them close. "We know this is hard for both of you but we have no other choice." Tiamat said while rubbing the top of Bahamut's head.

"You're training is not yet complete but we have complete faith in your powers." Griever stated; Griever stroking the Ifrit's mane.

Ifrit leant into his brother's embrace. He started to shake a little. "Even so…"

Bahamut did what Ifrit did but his shaking was more evident. "We're not sure that even when all of us are here, we'll be able to stop her."

"The worst case scenario is that all the humans die and us as well." Ifrit continued.

Tiamat and Griever went silent. They, of course, knew that what their brothers were true. They would be fighting who easily gave them life and probably could take it back just as easily. After a long while, Tiamat broke the silence. "We will not let that happen." At his statement, Ifrit and Bahamut moved a little bit away from their brothers and saw Tiamat and Griever giving them a very serious stare.

"If it ever came to that, we want both of you to escape this dimension." Griever said sternly. "Don't stop for anything; even for us."

"But-!" Bahamut protested but then the bigger dragon interrupted him. "That was an order, Bahamut." After that, the smaller dragon went silent; his head was hung low.

"I understand." Ifrit said, just above a whisper.

Bahamut was about to protest yet again until he saw his red friend. Ifrit was shaking violently and his sharp teeth were biting his lip, enough to draw some blood. The fire lion's golden eyes were shut hard and would open occasionally to show it glistening with tears. Bahamut has never seen Ifrit cry but at the current circumstance, it was understandable. The young dragon looked down to think then to the elites. "Alright… I'll go as well."

"Thank you for understanding." Tiamat said with a gentle smile. He then looked towards the horizon to spot Hyne being carried by some of the monsters away from the town. "Now, it's time we deal with her."

"Looks like she's moving towards another town." Griever stated.

"That's good." Tiamat looked towards the ruin below that was once Winhill. He concentrated to make a small sweep. "… I can still feel some life below. There are survivors."

"We'll send Phoenix down there as soon as possible but right now, we better follow Hyne." Griever said.

The four GFs nodded at each other and then flew away to follow the sorceress and her horde of fiends.

Meanwhile, Shiva, Quezacotl, Pandemona, Leviathan and Odin were just finishing off the last invading monster in their area. The attack caused great damage and the casualties were at a high numbers. The guards of the towns were a big help but most of them were left injured.

_Trabia Continent secured._ Shiva's voice said through the all GF link.

_Dollet is clear. Deling seems to be the next target but it will take some time before they reach the city limit._ Leviathan's voice spoke.

_Damn, I thought they'd never stop._ Odin sent.

_I think that's it for their attack. _Pandemona stated.

_Alright Carbuncle, you're up._ Quezacotl said.

Over the ocean just south of Balamb, Lamorak and Carbuncle were floating in mid-air. Carbuncle looked towards the knight GF. "It's time. Cover me while I form the barrier."

Lamorak nodded. "Got it but we better make it quick."

Carbuncle flew straight up, leaving Lamorak to look around and spot for anything that will hinder their operation. When Carbuncle reached the sufficient altitude, he closed his eyes and the ruby on his forehead glowed immediately. It shone brightly then shot a beam towards the sky. The beam climbed and climbed to the middle of the stratosphere and it divided to more beams, shooting to different directions.

Every town in Gaea was hit by a red beam and around the towns, a translucent red barrier was formed. Being successful at their mission, all of the GFs head to Hyne's location.


	7. Chapter 7

On the plains between Timber and Windhill, the GFs, Hyne's army of monsters and Hyne herself confronted. Every GF was there except Alexander, who is still stuck in Trabia Continent, protected by Carbuncle's barrier. The people of Windhill are being assisted by others from neighboring towns, especially, Deling.

"Lady Hyne, what is the meaning of this!?" Quezacotl asked angrily.

Hyne stared at her creations sternly. The monsters in her unit were terrified of the GFs but not her. "There are too many humans. I will eliminate those that are not needed."

Zaburo stepped forward. "What do you mean 'not needed'? And who are you to say if they are too many or not?!" The samurai pointed his Masamune towards Hyne threateningly.

"I created them so I can say what I want to say about them!" Hyne shouted while glaring at Zaburo. "The humans are becoming too many and if they continue to grow in numbers, they will soon desolate the whole world for their own purposes, leaving us powerless."

"But you told us NOT to interfere with their actions!" Griflet rebutted. The white silver knight stood straight, his right hand was grasping Excalibur's hilt while his left arm was also straight beside his body, and his left hand was clenched into a fist. "You told us not to meddle with the affairs of the humans even if they made the wrong choices."

"We all agreed that we would give the humans the right to build their own futures and not to help and/or dictate." Pandemona stated.

"You decide to side with the humans rather than your own creator?!"

Cerberus sat down then scratches the right ear of his right head. "Well let's see… I guess the answer is…" He then stood up and went to his fighting stance. All of the GFs continued. "YES!!"

Hyne bit her lip and her hands were in fists. The monsters around her were howling. They could all feel a strong dark energy from Hyne. The GFs could feel it as well but they stood their ground. "How dare you! You will go against she who has given you life and purpose? After all what I have done for you, you betray me?!"

"We didn't betray you." Tiamat blankly said. "It is you who turned your back on those who believes in you."

The GFs continue to give their thoughts about the recent events. The GFs and their creator threw words at each other for a while but it didn't take long for someone to snap. "ENOUGH!!" Hyne bellowed. The sorceress lifted her right hand then released an energy wave, leaving the GFs stunned. She smiled wickedly until she felt two strong energies above her. She looked up and saw Griever and Tiamat, still able to move.

"You should know that we have trained hard and well through the centuries and that skill won't affect us anymore." Griever explained.

"We will take you down without hesitation. It will be the only way for the humans to be saved." Tiamat said.

"I'd like to see you try." Hyne created a barrier around her then whistled to signal the monsters around her to prepare themselves. The monsters all went into their battle stances, fangs and claws ready.

_Any ideas on how we'll defeat her? _Griever asked through the GF mindlink.

_Let's attack from both sides. That way, we can see if she has any weak points or at least disorient her._ The elite dragon GF replied. Tiamat looked upwards to the sky. _In the mean time, Alexander can use his skill to help the others. You up for it Alexander?_

_You can count on me!_ Alexander chimed.

Griever nodded at the thought of the plan then readied himself for battle. _Start the operation!_

Griever and Tiamat flew in different directions: Tiamat went westward while Griever goes east. The monsters and hyne use their magic to attack the two airborne GFs but none of them were hitting the mark.

In Trabia continent, Alexander opens his shoulders to reveal his cannons. He summons up his energy towards his cannons to use his supportive skill, Conforto Lux Lucis. 'A few… more… minutes… Until firing…' Alexander thought.

"Dragon Gust!!" Tiamat yelled. He flapped his wings hard, creating a strong blast of wind that blew away about 1/3 of Hyne's army.

"Cosmo Claw!!" Griever raised his claws sideward and both of his claws began to glow. He then swiped them across, releasing an energy wave that diced everything in front of him.

In the middle of the battle field, the two attacks collided creating a vortex of death. The wind sucked all the monsters into itself then the energy waves slices everything in the vortex's grasp. Once the minions were eliminated, the tornado moved itself to Hyne. The cyclone engulfed Hyne, leaving the GFs to watch as it hits their creator from every angle.

The black dragon observes Hyne carefully from above. _Do you see any weak spots? _Tiamat asked. Griever just shook his head.

After a while, the tornado exploded releasing the energy waves towards different directions. Luckily, nobody got hurt. Hyne appeared to have not been scratched by the combined attack. She then glared towards the two elites. "Was that the best you could do?" Griever and Tiamat gritted their teeth and growled. "Did you really think that would destroy me?"

"We didn't but we just needed to buy some time." Griever said with a sly smirk on his face.

"For what?"

"For Alexander's assistance." Tiamat looked towards the sky again. _Alexander, we need you now!_

_Firing!_ Alexander said through the link. The cannons on his shoulder were already at maximum and were targeting the fallen GFs. "Conforto Lux Lucis!!" Pillars of light shot out from the shoulder cannons of Alexander. The lights raced towards the battlefield in Galabadia and hit the targets dead on. The GFs felt their body recovering and were able to move. They rose up then took their positions for battle.

"Don't think that you have already won, Hyne."Pandemona said.

"The real battle is just beginning." Griever continued.


	8. Chapter 8

Sorry about taking so long for this chapter. I had to sort out my school work and I just got into my semestral break.

Also, our internet connection at home was temporarily cut-off. Well here is the next chapter, I hope you like it.

* * *

"Do you really think you will be able to defeat me even if all of you attack?" Hyne taunted with an evil smirk on her face.

"We can sure try, can't we?" Odin rebutted.

Griever opened a mental link to all of the GFs. _Everyone, don't let your guard down. We're not completely sure of what abilities she has._

_Attack her with everything you got. Don't hold back. _Tiamat said through the link. _Carbuncle, we'll need a barrier ASAP._

_Leave it to me._ Carbuncle replied.

The GFs went into their stances, waiting for the signal to attack. _Start the operation!!_ The two elites shouted. At the signal, all of the GFs rushed towards Hyne. Immediately after they charged, they were enveloped by a brilliant light, forming a protective shield around them.

The two forces were at it at full force, releasing different spells and attacks at each other. The GFs supported each other on offense and defense while Hyne uses her powers for both sides simultaneously. She is, however, keeping up with her creations.

The GFs were primarily divided to two different teams: Quezacotl, Ifrit, Minotaur, Pandemona, Bahamut, Zaburo, Griflet, Lamorak, Odin, Tiamat and Griever were on the offense while Siren, Shiva, Sacred, Leviathan, Phoenix, Alexander and Cerberus use their abilities for support and attack.

News of the colossal battle and of Hyne's plan to exterminate the humans spread all around Gaea. People had taken arms and had started to form armies to fight with the GFs.

The battle between Hyne and her creations lasted for several days. The two sides didn't seem to show any sign of weariness. The GFs have managed to defeat to eliminate the monsters that were with Hyne but the end result was a failure. They kept on trying to hold the sorceress back but their attempts were futile as the sorceress completely ravaged Timber and Dollet. Luckily, none of the GFs died from the battles.

Some humans have fled to the forests or mountains to seek refuge from Hyne's wrath. After several failed attempts, the GFs have met up once more in Trabia. "Any new ideas on how to defeat Hyne?" Cerberus asked while sitting on a bank of snow.

"Well…" Griflet started, his white silver armor sported a lot of dents and scratches. "There have been some humans who are volunteering to aid us in battle."

"We can't let them fight!" Leviathan protested; his wings flapped quickly in an agitated manner. "We cannot put them in any more danger than they already are in now."

Tiamat nodded. "Leviathan is right. We'll have to deal with this on our own."

"We can't ask help from Cactuar, Tonberry or Doomtrain…" Siren said softly.

"And we certainly can't defeat her with just us." Phoenix continued. "Our failed attempts have proven that fact."

"That's not completely true." All of the GFs turned their attention to Griever who was thinking very hard. "We haven't tried using the Finality Aurora."

"The Finality Aurora?" Shiva asked fearfully. "Don't you think it's a bit too risky?"

Carbuncle sighed. "It is but what else can we do? We've used up all of our options."

The GFs went silent at Carbuncle's statement. As much as they didn't want to accept it, it was the truth. If they can't stop Hyne then no one will be safe. They have to use everything in their arsenal to defeat her. "Let's do it." Ifrit said.

"Ifrit, you know what might happen if the attack isn't done right, don't you?" Quezacotl asked. Ifrit nodded.

* * *

[400 Years Ago]

The GFs were training over at Trabia. There have been no attacks lately so they decided to put their free time to good use. The older GFs were training with advanced spells and maneuvers while Ifrit and Bahamut were on a lower scale. Tiamat and Griever were arranging the training patterns for the others.

"Alright everyone, gather 'round." Griever called. "We have some thing to say." The other GFs stopped what they were doing and came closer to the two eldest GFs.

Before them was huge drawing on the ground. It looked like a magic circle with symbols from an ancient text. Outside the circle were several smaller circles, all equidistant from each other.

"Griever and I have been thinking about a new attack that will require all of us." Tiamat said as he was floated over the circle.

"This attack will only be performed against a very strong opponent or a large army." Griever explained as he joined his partner. "We call it the Finality Aurora."

Griever and Tiamat explained how the attack was to be performed. After the explanation, it all became clear and everybody agreed to test it out. The GFs went to their position and started the preparations.

About an hour later, the GFs came back from testing but something has gone horribly wrong. They all looked haggard. Some were injured, some worse than others namely: Quezacotl, Ifrit, Leviathan and Bahamut. The four unconscious GFs were put under Alexander and Phoenix's care. The others who were luckier sat around a few meters from the injured.

"So the testing was a failure…" Cerberus groaned as he was lying on the ground as he was regenerating on his own.

"Tch… Understatement of the century." Lamorak said as he was leaning against a boulder. There didn't seem to be any major injuries to his body except scratches. "That attack was completely idiotic."

Griever and Tiamat sat next together; both looked scared out of their wits. "W-We don't know what went wrong." Tiamat mumbled.

"By our calculations, nothing like that should have happened." Griever said in a soft voice equal to Tiamat's.

Lamorak stood up and quickly and glared at the duo. "But something did! Look around you!" Lamorak shouted; his hand urging Tiamat and Griever to look towards the four critically wounded GFs. "Four of us are in critical condition, and the others are drained and injured!"

Everyone could answer to what the young knight said. They were all pondering on the thought of using it in battle and the result is the same. It would be horrific especially to the two eldest.

After a while, Pandemona broke the silence. "Maybe… We should only use that only as a last resort…"

The youngest of the knights faced the Wind GF and glared at him. "Do you seriously want to die?!" Lamorak yelled. Immediately, Zaburo and Griflet tried to calm him down but were failing miserably. "Hey, if you guys want to give up your lives just like that, fine by me!" The young knight turned around and started to walk away. "But leave me out of it!"

"Lamorak, that's enough!" Griever stood up and shouted. "We made a mistake and apologized, alright?! What more do you want from us?!"

"Apologize all you want but that won't speed up the recovery of the others!" Lamorak yelled back as he continued to walk away from the group.

Diablos, who was sitting crossed-legs on the ground, started to laugh. "Well if you ask me, this experiment had one positive effect: We learned who is unfit to be GFs." After saying his thought, Diablos started to laugh maniacally.

* * *

[Present Time]

"Let's do it." Ifrit said. "It's our only chance of defeating Hyne."

Bahamut curled into a ball; his wings were wrapped around his body. "Yeah, but if we fail…"

"Then we'll be left vulnerable to their attacks and probably end up dying for nothing." Pandemona continued.

The silence following Pandemona's statement was deafening. The GFs tried to think of another plan they could go with for their next assault. After a while, Griflet lets out a sigh. "It looks like we're stuck on that option, unfortunately."

Quezacotl then flew up and flapped his wings quickly; an almost invisible electric aura was showing around his body. "Well then if were going down, we might as well go down fighting." The others laughed somewhat nervously at Quezacotl's enthusiasm but they agreed with what he said.

"Well if we ever get injured again, Phoenix could still try to help us." Siren said as she looked towards the red bird. Phoenix twitched at the sudden responsibility he was given.

"He better or I will cook your red bird ass if and when I see you again!" Odin threatened half-heartedly. Phoenix could only laugh nervously.

Griever nodded then stood up. "Since we are all in agreement, let's figure out a strategy that we will lead to the Finality Aurora." A flurry of 'Yes' came as a reply.

* * *

I once again apologize for taking long but expect that it might be a while before this is continued due to internet availability and sorting out my registration for the next semester.

Please read and review. Happy Halloween everybody!


	9. Chapter 9

Hey everyone. I'm sorry for not continuing this story for a while. I'm still having problems on internet connection and stuff have been really annoying since it's the start of the new semester. Here are the two next chapters of the story. Enjoy.

* * *

A day later, the GFs were all scattered throughout the Trabia snowfield, all were getting ready for their attack on Sorceress Hyne. There were those hiding in the nearby forest, some were hiding in the canyon and the others were on the plains, setting up just like what they have agreed upon.

* * *

[Flashback]

"So what are we going to do to prepare for the attack?" Carbuncle asked.

"Well, there will be four teams that are needed to execute our plan." Tiamat explained as he started to draw on the ground to make his explanation clearer. "The first team is to get Hyne's attention and lure her to us. The second team will join the first team mid-way to clear out Hyne's troops then help bring her here. The third will be beside the execution point so they can create a containment field around Hyne. The fourth will create the circle for the attack."

Griever stepped forward. "When the duties have been fulfilled, that would be the time when we all will invoke the circle and commence with the Finality Aurora." The black lion looked around at all the GFs. "So who will be in the first team?"

"Heh… Leave that to me and Pandemona." Cerberus said smugly. "We might use Bahamut's skill as well." At that, Bahamut flinched a little. Cerberus' right head looked towards the young dragon. "You up for it, kid?"

"I-I'll do my best."

Zaburo then cleared his throat. "If I may, may I suggest that us, knights, will form the second group?" Griever and Tiamat thought about it and agreed with the white silver knight's idea shortly.

"Umm… May I join you as well?" Leviathan asked.

"Certainly, Leviathan. We're happy to take you with us." Griflet said.

Carbuncle then jumped up and floated over the drawings Tiamat made. "Of course, I'll be in the third team. So who will I be with?"

"Quezacotl, Shiva, Ifrit and the Brothers should be able to help you in creating a strong containment field." Lamorak suggested. The five GFs being talked about moved towards their teammate.

"That leaves Tiamat, Griever, Phoenix, Alexander and me for the construction of the circle." Siren stated.

"We'll have to work fast in case Hyne comes early." Alexander said.

"Agreed." Griever approved with a nod. "Well, now that those were settled, we better get some rest for tomorrow." All of the GFs started to talk to each other about the plan for the succeeding day. After a while, they started to settle down for the night to get some rest.

* * *

As he was helping the fourth team on creating the magic circle for their attack, Tiamat looked towards the forest where he knew the first team was stationed. "Bahamut…"

At the other end of the circle, Griever would occasionally make short glances towards his own brother; also worried about the outcome of the battle.

* * *

[Flashback]

It was in the middle of the night of when the GFs have planned for their final battle with Hyne. Most of the GFs were sleeping except for four. A pair was floating above the group while another pair was on a snow bank not far from the others.

In the skies, Bahamut was flying circles around Tiamat literally as the older dragon watched him. At first, Bahamut was alone but when Tiamat woke up and found that his brother was flying around above him, he decided to join in.

"You should really get some sleep." Tiamat said in his big-brotherly tone. He was floating over one spot and as his brother flied around him, he just stood still so he didn't have to strain himself and end up getting dizzy.

"I'm not really that sleepy yet." Bahamut replied. "I guess I'm just a little nervous."

"I'm kinda nervous too." Tiamat laughed.

"About what?"

"About the outcome, the plan, safety of our friends…" The older dragon wanted to stop there but he remembered the result of their trial 400 years ago. "And about you." At that point, Bahamut stopped in front of his brother and stared at him. Tiamat's head was looking down and his claws turned to clenched fists. "I mean, your training isn't complete, the attack was never improved, one of our most crucial battles is about to happen… I'm just worried about losing you."

Bahamut stayed silent for a while and Tiamat took that as a sign to continue. "Look. After what happened to you guys back when we first tried the Finality Aurora, when I heard what happened to you, I was on the verge of breaking down." The older dragon shut his eyes and tries his best to stop the tears on his eyes from falling. "I was so ashamed of myself, as your brother and your leader, for not thinking about the possible consequences if the attack should fail." Tears were now rushing down the scales on Tiamat's face. "I never have forgiven myself for that. When you fully recovered, I was so happy and I promised myself that I would not send you out to a mission that had the same or greater risk than our trial. I just don't know what I would do if I lost you." Tiamat said with a cracking voice.

Bahamut was speechless. Tiamat rarely shows this side of himself to anybody, even the other Guardian Forces. Bahamut and Tiamat were very open to each other but the feeling of fear coming from the older sibling was like never the younger one has seen.

Ever so gently, Bahamut glided to Tiamat and opened his arms wide. He then wrapped them around his brother and nuzzled his on Tiamat's chest. This got the older dragon out off his brooding feeling a little. "I'll be fine. I promise." Bahamut said.

Bahamut looked up to Tiamat's face but still saw his expression full of worry. He released his brother and moved away a little. Bahamut looked at Tiamat seriously. "Big brother, I was also born as a GF. I know I'm young, naïve and not as powerful as the others but I am still what I am. When I grow older, I will have to take up harder missions. In those times, I will be in constant danger but I'll do my best to not fail you." Bahamut then smiled gently at his brother. "Besides, I know that whatever happens, you'll always be my brother and you'd help me."

Tiamat just smiled and tried to shake off the tears and feeling of fear. "Of course I will." Tiamat moved closer to the other and hugged Bahamut and in return, Bahamut did the same. They stayed like that in silence before Tiamat broke it. "You really are growing up." The older dragon raised his right hand the top of his brother's head. "Bahamut, even though you want to fight with us, if the result of the battle tomorrow is dire, I must still ask you to flee from this dimension with Ifrit."

"I will." Bahamut then yawned. "Can we go back now?"

"Sure."

Bahamut and Tiamat glided down towards the ground where the others were. There was a large tree nearby and the older dragon sat down, leaning against the bark of the tree. He then opened his wings and wrapped them around his body.

Bahamut came closer to Tiamat and copied what he did but he leant against the Elite GF. "Hey, can you sing me that lullaby you used when I was younger?" Bahamut asked.

"Of course." Tiamat thought back about 1000 years when they were younger and tried to remember the lullaby he needed. He cleared his throat then started humming softly.

On a nearby snow bank, Ifrit was lying on his back while Griever was standing straight; both were staring up at the stars. The stars shone with brilliance that could only be compared to jewels. "It's a beautiful night tonight, isn't it?" Griever asked.

"Yeah…" Ifrit replied absently.

They stared at the sky in silence. Every once in a while, Griever would look around to make sure that there would be nothing to ambush them and sometimes he would look his younger brother over. After a while, Griever spoke once more. "Ifrit, before our battle tomorrow, I just want to say that I am proud to have fought with you and I'm sorry if I wasn't much of a brother."

"There's nothing you should apologize for." Ifrit said in a gruff voice. At the corner of his eye, he looked towards Griever. "You did what you think was right in terms of raising me. I couldn't have asked for a better family."

"I just wished I knew how to take better care of you." The black lion looked down, somewhat ashamed, and dug his right foot into the ground. "I always thought about training you and the others that I didn't get to spend that much time with you for leisure."

"Well it isn't too late for that." Griever looked towards Ifrit with a questioning look. "When we finish our mission, everything will go back as it was and you could try all over again."

"But-"

"Don't think of the negative result." The red lion interrupted. "I personally don't want to think that we would lose. I don't want to go away from all of you." Ifrit then grinned at his brother. "Besides, it will be degrading to my reputation if I lose now."

Griever stared at his brother with an odd look. He thought about what the other said and then started to laugh. "I guess you're right." Griever said.

"Of course I am. Let's just enjoy the peace for now." At that, they continued to stare at the sky. Not long after they went back to the others to find Tiamat and Bahamut asleep. They decided to join them and both fell asleep lying on their backs on the snow.

* * *

In the forest, Cerberus, Pandemona and Bahamut waited for their target. Hours came and went but still there was no sign of Hyne. It wasn't until they felt a shift in the energies around them. On the horizon, they could clearly see a huge group heading towards them.

_Target sighted. _Pandemona said through the mental link. The message was received by all of the GFs.

_Great. How big is their army?_ Zaburo asked.

Pandemona didn't reply immediately and he concentrated his thoughts on the wind. _From what I can sense, it's pretty big._

_They must be planning to attack Esthar immediately after Trabia. _Lamorak stated.

The other GFs heard Odin laugh loud and hard through the link. _Looks like we're going to have fun today. You guys ready?_

_Ready as we'll ever be. _Cerberus said. _Tiamat, how are things going at your end?_

The movement of Tiamat's group sped up as they raced to build the circle before Hyne passes them or comes to the target zone. _We're just about done. You may start immediately._

_Got it. _The two frontliner teams replied.


	10. Chapter 10

"All of you, keep your guard up!" Hyne ordered to her minions as she and her army moves through the Trabia snowfield. "The Guardian Forces have not attacked yet but they will. I can sense their presence." The different creatures around her roared as a sign of agreement. 'They will not interfere with my plans again. I am almost done and nothing will ruin this.'

From inside of the nearby forest, Pandemona, Cerberus and Bahamut prepares for their assault. Thankfully, they had lowered their powers enough so that they couldn't be pinpointed. Also, the trees were big enough that it gave them proper concealment. The trio concentrates their energies into five separate spheres the size of boulders. (Five because of the three head of Cerberus)

_I'm ready to fire._ Cerberus said through the mental link since he couldn't close his mouths because of the spheres. The three spheres glowed brilliantly with different colors representing the three main elements of fire, ice, and thunder.

Pandemona held his sphere with both hands. Weak gusts were emanating from the orb. Suddenly, the wind GF twitched. "Bahamut, control your energy. It will burst if it's not balanced."

Indeed, Bahamut's sphere was fluctuating in size. "Sorry." The young dragon concentrated harder and the sphere settled down. "Alright, it's okay now."

"We'll fire on three. One… Two… THREE!" All three GFs threw their orbs towards Hyne. The five spheres combine to create a massive ball of energy. The ball zipped through the air and hit its mark. A large explosion occurred and the boom could be heard throughout the continent.

When the smoke cleared, Hyne was undamaged by creating a dome barrier around her and those near her. The unfortunate ones were obliterated from the explosion. The sorceress immediately spots the three GFs and so she releases her minions from the barrier. "After them!" The monsters around her and Hyne herself ran towards the trio.

Seeing as their plan had succeeded, Bahamut, Pandemona and Cerberus made a mad dash towards the execution zone. _Phase one of our plan is underway. _Cerberus announced._ The target is chasing after us and heading to the final area._

_We hear you._ Leviathan replied.

_Just leave 'em to us. _Lamorak chimed.

Leviathan, Odin, Zaburo, Griflet and Lamorak looked on for any sign of their teammates and their primary target. Not long after their last contact, Pandemona, Cerberus and Bahamut were seen heading through the snow, being chased by hordes of monsters and Hyne.

The second team came out from where they hid in the mountains and rushed to aid their companions. The four knights charged in and attacked all that they could. Leviathan used an Aqua Breath skill to douse the others. After waiting a while, the soaked creatures froze solid. The sea serpent GF swung his tail and a strong water wave rushed in, eliminating some unfrozen and all of the frozen enemies.

The monster army was reduced to a handful. The second team then joins the first team on fleeing to the execution zone. _We've done our job._ Odin said towards the remaining two teams.

_The circle is complete. _Phoenix stated. _We can start when you get here._ The fourth team was hiding with the third team. Alexander was able to hide behind the mountains' tall structure.

_We're ready to deploy the barrier. _Quezacotl said.

From the horizon, the frontliner teams came dashing through with Hyne's small party. The eight GFs stopped just outside of the circle after passing through. Hyne and her minions entered the circle.

When the appropriate time came, the third team revealed themselves and started to create a multilayer barrier comprising on an electric grid, a magical shield, an ice dome, a layer of rock and a fire wall. The fourth team joined the others when the barrier was fully established. Inside the barrier, Hyne and the monsters try to break free but any spell or attack done to it did not do any good.

"What can you say about our plan, Hyne?" Griever yelled so the occupants of the shielded zone could hear.

"I knew all of you had a plan like this!" Hyne shouted back. "Do you really think you can contain me in here forever?"

Tiamat answered back this time. "We don't plan to keep you in there for long. We're ending the chaos you're bringing into Gaea." The elite dragon faced his companions. "It's time. Victory shall be ours."

The Guardian Forces went to their spots around the dome. When they got to their positions, the 18 GFs poured their energies to the circle. The whole circle started to glow; different characters, symbols and glyphs shone brightly. Inside the barrier, when the circle started glowing, the monsters were annihilated one by one.

Tiamat and Griever started to chant something inaudible to even those near them but as they did, the circle glowed brighter and brighter. Some of the Guardian Forces could already feel drained but none decided to give up. Inside, Hyne created a shield around her to protect herself from the pressure being created from the attack.

After minutes of chanting, the two elites finish chanting. By then, the pressure felt by the other GFs and Hyne was extraordinary. The circle was shining with intense brightness. "It's time!" Tiamat and Griever informed everyone.

"Finality Aurora!" All of the GFs shouted. "Element Pandemonium!!" The barrier and the circle started to implode, sucking in anything and everything nearby except for the Guardian Forces. When the dome was almost gone, it expanded rapidly and exploded. The blast was of epic proportions. The GFs were blown away and sustained heavy damage. After the explosion, the plains became a huge crater.

The GFs, regardless of the damage they took, tried their best to stand up. They looked towards the blast zone and saw no sign of Hyne. "Did we… Finally do it?" Carbuncle asked to no one in particular.

"All of you…" A weak female voice said. "Will pay for what you did." From the bottom of the crater, Hyne floated up. Her hair was in disarray and her clothes were in shreds. She was covered in dirt and soot. At her appearance, the GFs all wanted to give up. They couldn't move, their out of energy, they can't protect themselves, they had no chance of winning. Hyne looked towards Tiamat. "This is your idea. I'm sure of it." Hyne created an energy sphere on her hand and pointed it towards the dragon. "I will destroy you… As an example for your brethren if any of you try to get in my way again."

The sorceress launched the orb towards Tiamat but before it hits, Bahamut came between the ball and Tiamat. The young dragon howled in pain from the attack.

Out of nowhere, a pillar of light from the skies appeared and enveloped Bahamut with its glow. The light was intense that it blinded everyone who stared at it. The pillar vanished shortly and when the sight of the GFs and Hyne came back, Bahamut was gone.

"B-Bahamut… H-He's…" Tiamat muttered.

A voice spoke from above. "Do not fret. Your brother has not yet been vanquished." The GFs and Hyne looked everywhere above them for the source of the voice. They saw nothing but a huge hole in the clouds and a strong light coming out of it.

"Who are you?!" Hyne yelled to the skies.

"I am he who governs over the powers of time and space. I am Eden."

"You dare oppose my will as well?!" The sorceress shouted.

"Indeed. What you have done has created a negative impact in the forces and that I cannot let go. You will see the error of your ways with the help of those who you tortured."

"W-What do you mean?" Just then, from the mountains, forests, canyons and plains, people from every corner of Gaea appeared. All had a serious and brave face even though Hyne was in front of them.

"We will not run away anymore." A young boy from Balamb said.

"We will take our revenge for our loved ones!" A woman from Winhill cried.

"The Guardian Forces have done so much. It's our time to do something." An elderly man from Esthar said.

"We will protect our right of existence." Everyone shouted. The humans and GFs started to glow. Both felt an empowering feeling deep inside of them. It was like the humans were drawing power from the Guardian Forces and vice versa.

Hyne gritted her teeth from sensing the boost in the humans and GFs. "Whatever you do, you will never be able to defeat me!"

"All of you, use your powers!" Eden ordered to everyone in the field. The humans, havng granted to use magic from the power of the Guardian Forces, used whatever spell they could use. The GFs used what remains of their energies to do their limit breaks.

Hyne, on the other hand, used every bit of her power to launch a final attack on everything standing against her. The combined powers of the humans and GFs overpowered the sorceress and finally she was defeated. "I… I cannot believe… I was defeated…"

"The power of humans is greater than you think Hyne." Eden stated. "Now that they have proven themselves, go back to your sleep and never bother the humans again."

Hyne thought about what the Time Guardian said and then she started to laugh. "I must admit they have. I will go back to my rest and I will leave part of my spirit with the humans as a gift to them." The sorceress looked towards the GFs and smiled. "You have grown well, my children. I am proud of all of you. Let us hope we meet again someday." With that, Hyne vanished.

The humans all rejoiced and went back to their towns. Everything was back to normal and they could now start rebuilding all that was destroyed.

The use of the Finality Aurora and linking of their powers to the humans took a toll on the Guardian Forces. They could not recover their lost powers like they used to. As a solution, Griever and Tiamat all ordered the GFs to go in stasis so that they could replenish their powers but not before they announced it to the humans.

The GFs chose different sites for where they were to sleep but they had one last get together before that. They converge once more in Trabia. "I hope you all have a good rest. We will join you some time later." Griever said.

"You're joining us yet?" Grifelt asked.

Tiamat shook his head. "We're terribly sorry but not yet. I still have to find Bahamut. Eden told me that he was not destroyed but Eden teleported him somewhere safe." The elite dragon looked to the horizon. "I can't leave my poor brother alone."

"I'm coming with Tiamat. With our weakened state, it would be best if we searched together." Griever said. The black lion then looked to Ifrit. "Ifrit, I will leave you for now but I promise we'll see each other again soon." The fire GF just nodded.

A day later, all of the GFs have gone to their respective areas and went to sleep. They hid themselves in forms of draw points that could not be sensed, seen or activated by any mere soul. Griever and Tiamat went out into Gaea to look for their missing comrade and bring him back to where he belongs.

* * *

Okay so that ends the Hyne arc. What comes next? It's a secret. The GFs are older and some more familiar stuff is coming. Check things out later. Until then, see 'ya!


	11. Chapter 11

Okay so this is a bit pre-game and some stuff for the in-game verse. You'll read some stuff that are a bit familiar now.

* * *

It has been 800 years since the Guardian Forces went into their long sleep. One after another, the GFs woke.

Quezacotl, who was hiding on the mountain ranges by the Esthar continent forest area, was the first to wake up. The giant draw point shifted, glowing brightly then diminished. On its place, the thunder bird GF stretched his wings out and lets out a combination of a screech and a yawn. "Darn… That was a long nap. I think my wings are a bit stiff." Quezacotl then opened a channel for the all GF mindlink. _Hey anyone else up yet?_

On the mountains of Balamb, another draw point changed its form and out come Pandemona. The humanoid wind guardian raised his arms high and bent his body sideways for stretching before he heard Quezacotl's message. _Some of us are. _ Pandemona walked to the edge of a cliff to view the surroundings of Balamb. He saw that Balamb town was developing quite well and there is a huge compound of some sort that was being built near the Fire Cavern. The compound looked like it was near completion. _How long has it been? _

Carbuncle, who hid inside a cave near Deling City, was sitting on the cavern floor, scratching his ear with his hind left leg. After hearing the messages from the other GFs, he looked around the cave. He spotted some small minerals and gems around. _From what I can say, it looks like about eight centuries._

By the shores near Dollet, Siren sits on a lone rock. The wings on her head flap a little and she tries to sing a little to test her voice ability. Once satisfied, she joined in the conversation. _Eight centuries? My, how time flies._

On the mountains of Trabia, Shiva breaks out of her glacier hiding place. The ice shattered to millions of tiny fragments, which the ice queen GF brushes away from her body. _Ifrit, are you alright?_

Inside the Fire Cavern, a huge draw point stood in the middle of a lava pool. The draw point absorbed a little of the magma which froze into a rock sphere. After a while, the sphere started to shake unevenly then shatters, revealing Ifrit in his adult form. Long, horns, sharp teeth and claws, full muscular build. The red lion-like GF jumped towards a rock path and shook of some of the frozen lava off of him. _Don't worry about me. I'm not a kid anymore Shiva._

_Well, you're in a grumpy mood. _A deep gangster like voice said.

_Lay off, Minotaur._ Ifrit replied.

On the cliffs where the Tomb of the Lost King stood, Minotaur and his younger yet taller brother roamed around. _What's eatin' ya, Ifrit? _Sacred asked.

A mental kick to the Earth Brothers was sent by the other Gurardian Forces. _Hey what did we do?!_ The older brother shouted.

_Have you forgotten what happened before we went into our rest? _Griflet scolded; making sure that the link was diverted so Ifrit would not hear their conversation.

_You do remember that Griever, Tiamat and Bahamut are not here with us yet. _Zaburo stated flatly.

_It's gotta be hard for him that his brother and his best friend isn't here._ Lamorak said sympathetically. Lamorak always was close to the two youngest GFs since from the older ones, he is the youngest of the group. He always played with the two when they were still infants.

_We shouldn't talk about that issue while Ifrit is listening, is that clear?_ Pandemona asked a bit threateningly. He then opened the channel to all of the Guardian Forces. _Anybody else awake?_

From the ocean south of Balamb, Leviathan rose up and lets out a loud screech. He looked around him and saw a long bridge with a huge artificial area next to it. The area had windmills and solar cells. The sea serpent GF swam between the pillars of the bridge before joining in with the others. _Leviathan here. How about we get together again? It's been a while since we last saw each other and besides, the mental link is a bit of a strain even now._

_Agreed. Guardian Forces, let's meet back in Trabia._ Pandemona ordered.

----------

[Trabia Snowfield]

All of the GFs have now awake. They all gather around their usual place and manner. Some were very enthusiastic about seeing each other while some were still feeling the effects of their hibernation. One, however, was very distant from the others. Ifrit kept silent and ignored everyone. He certainly made his negative disposition known to the other GFs.

"It seems that everyone is here now." Pandemona stated; only to get a snort from Ifrit as a reply.

Cerberus looked everyone over then noticed Phoenix was somewhat not well. "Phoenix, you alright?"

Phoenix really looked odd. His feathers didn't have their usual vibrant coloration, his eyes were half-lid and he was as if he would collapse any minute. In spite of his sickly condition, Phoenix looked towards Cerberus and smiled weakly. "Don't worry about me, my friend. I'll be fine." Phoenix said.

"Has anyone heard anything from Griever and Tiamat yet?" Alexander asked innocently.

The silence that came after Alexander's inquiry was disturbing. Everyone looked towards Ifrit and found him staring off towards the horizon with his back facing the others. After a long while, Leviathan answered. "I'm afraid not. I do hope they're alright and so is Bahamut." The other GFs just nodded.

Having fed up about hearing the others talk about his brother, Ifrit jumped up and his body lit up with flames. He then launched himself towards the direction of the Fire Cavern, despite of the protests he got from his teammates. Shiva was about to go after him when Pandemona called her. "Shiva, leave him be. He needs to sort this out by himself."

"I feel weird." Odin said blankly.

"Now that you mentioned it, I do feel a bit funny too." Minotaur told the others.

Alexander made a primary scan of all the GFs and found the reason for the complaints. "Our powers have not yet completely recovered. It seems like we'll have to relearn some of them." The holy castle explained. "We can however extract our power from other life forms and we can attach ourselves to others,"

"I guess we have no other choice." Carbuncle sighed.

"Powers or not we still have a duty to serve." Phoenix said. "As Guardian Forces, we have to protect the humans at the best of our abilities. We have to fulfill that duty no matter what."

The others thought this through for a bit. Pandemona broke the silence. "Phoenix is right. Alright everyone, let's scatter for now. We should still help the humans. If anyone feel any weakening condition, contact anyone you can. Dismissed." With that, everyone went back to their respective continents.

* * *

Next, the Guardian Forces try to adapt to the changes between their time and the current time.

I'll also include some shorts about on the succeeding chapters.

Please review. It would be much appreciated.


	12. Chapter 12

To all that have submitted reviews for this story, thank you.

This part is kinda slashy: PhoenixXCerberus. Though nothing in the profiles of the two Guardian Forces state that they had a connection.

Some of the information here are from the FF wiki.

I do hope you guys understand the parts on Dr. Odine's lines here.

* * *

Months have been passing by and the Guardian Forces are not recovering very well. They continue on their duty of protecting the humans but not meddling in any of their affairs. Unfortunately, the GFs are still not in their most powerful form and they feel more tired after their missions.

Across Gaea, news of the sorceress has been spreading and along with it, stories of despair grew in number. Everywhere the sorceress would go, people in that area suffer. On a lighter note, news of facilities called Garden, spearheaded by a couple by the name of Cid and Edea Kramer. The facility was to be the home for orphans but also became a training area for mercenaries. Another purpose was to defeat the Sorceress and liberate the people from their tyranny.

It has also been noticed by the Guardian Forces that the humans have somewhat forgotten about their existence and only a few knew them. The humans have become independent through the years. They have created newer weapons to protect themselves from harm but they were still powerless in comparison to the Sorceress.

The GFs have all become weaker and were about to lose hope of living until one fateful day.

_Everyone, go to Esthar now._ Quezacotl sent through the Guardian Force mindlink. The thunderbird was standing near the airstation.

_What for?_ Asked Lamorak.

_There's a human here that says he can help us extending our lives_. Quezacotl answered.

Zaburo shifted uneasily as he stood by the mountains of Galbadia. _How can that be possible? And how do we know we can trust the human?_

_What choice do we have?_ Siren sighed. _But I am still curious on how he could have developed such a method._

_Well, we'll just have to ask him ourselves when we meet him. _Pandemona said. _Guardian Forces, head to Esthar immediately._ With that order, every GF made there way to Esthar.

As the GFs head towards Esthar, Quezacotl informed them that the person they were about to meet wanted them to talk by the Trabia Cayon so as not to draw attention. The GFs complied and heads towards the said canyon. When they arrived, Quezacotl was perched on the side of a cliff, beside him was a man dressed in an unusual fashion. He wore a purple robe with a ridiculously large, red and white collar. The man also had a bag that was sitting by his foot.

One after another, the GFs landed by the canyon. Cerberus was the first to approach the human. The three canine heads stared at the mortal questioningly. "You are the human who says he can extend our lives?"

"Yes, T'iz I, Dr. Odine of Ezthar." The man introduced himself.

Carbuncle floated up and went to Odine to look at him at almost nose-to-nose. The little GF studied him this time, floating around Odine around and around. Carbuncle stopped and landed by the Odine's foot. "I hope you don't mind me asking but exactly, how can you achieve such a feat."

Odine laughed loudly. "I have been observing you GFz for quite zome time now. I have done rezearched your kind and have underztood your capabilitiez. Tell me, you all feel some veakening, yes?"

Shiva nodded. "Yes, some more than others."

"Zo I vaz right all along." The Esthar scientist laughed once more. "All of you have been zuffering due to ze passing of time and overusage of your powers. If not remedied, you vill all disappear from existence."

"And you mean to tell us that from the data you collect from your observations, you know a way to help us?" Leviathan asked.

"From vat I know of you actions in the past, zere vas one time that you bestowed your powers to us humans in order to defeat Zorceress Hyne, is that correct?" Odine asked.

Odin and his steed, Sleipnir, snorted simultaneously. "Yeah… So what?"

Odine cursed under his breath in response to the dark knight's arrogant personality. "Vell, vat I vas thinking vas to completely connect yourself to a human and extend ze time of your union."

"You want us to "possess" a human and stay in his body?" Minotaur asked annoyingly.

Odine nodded. "Zomevat like zat."

Griflet cocked his head to the side. "Is not that procedure dangerous?" The white silver knight said. "If the body of the human can't handle our power, he'll be obliterated."

"Vich is vy I created a device that will give you the ability to enter a human without destroying the host. Once you enter the body, ze human vill receive your powers so now he can use magic and as an added bonus, he vill be able to zummon you in times of need." The scientist stated. Odine took out a pistol from the bag he brought. "Zis pistol contains a rune string zat vill be imprinted in your bodies. Zat rune string vill give you ze power to store yourselves in a human body. Also, ze string vill allow you to live on your own until ze time zat you be attached to a person."

"Can we still use our abilities while we are attached?" Phoenix inquired.

"Of course you can. You can use your abilites but only in short bursts." Odine turned the rifle on and it started to hum. "I haven't perfected zis technology yet zince I had no proper testing but I am confident zis vill vork vith only minor zide effects."

"Uhh… Exactly, what side effects are we talking about?" Pandemona asked nervously.

The Esthar scientist shrugged. "Memory loss is the prominent one. Ze human vill forget some of his memories every time he uses your power. Also, when he vill zummon you, it vill take zome time for him to concentrate. At zat period of time, if the human gets attacked, instead of him being injured, you vill be the ones to receive the damage."

The Guardian Forces went silent for a bit before huddling. Whispers could sometimes be heard. "So are we going to go through with it?" Ifrit asked to Pandemona.

"We have to consider the well being of the humans that we will unite with." Alexander said.

"I say, we take it." Phoenix said softly. The others looked towards the red bird and noticed that his condition became worse. Phoenix was wheezing and struggling to keep standing.

"I'm going with Phoenix." The other GFs faced him; some were shocked and some looked solemnly. "I can't let this opportunity pass. If we disappear and the time comes we are needed once more, what would happen? Many of us need that and if some of us die or all of us, I don't think I can forgive myself for not helping."

The Guardian Forces went into silence once more. They knew what Pandemona meant. Some of them were feeling somewhat the same as Phoenix and they were desperate to live longer. After a little more deliberation, the GFs faced Odine. "Alright, we will go through with the procedure." Pandemona said. He then looked towards his companions. "Can anybody get Diablos' lamp and the Solomon Ring?"

"I already have the ring." Quezacotl chimed with the ring floating around him in a sphere made from an electric field.

"I got the lamp." Cerberus said. The right most head had the lamp in his mouth.

Pandemona nodded then faced Odine. "Doctor, can you create a means of implanting that rune string in the later times but we don't have to come here? You see, we also have friends that we are waiting for and they still have not returned."

"I see." Odine scratched his head. "Alright, I'll make it. How many do you need?"

"Six would be alright." Siren stated.

Odine was about to administer the rune string when all of them were startled by a loud screech. They followed the sound for the source and realized it was Phoenix and he was going out of control. Cerberus rushed towards his feathered friend. "Phoenix, what's the matter?!"

"M-My body… It hurts!!" Phoenix cried.

Alexander started a scan on Phoenix's body. "His power is now on the lower limit and continues to drop."

"What does that mean?" Carbuncle inquired.

Odine stepped forward with his rifle ready. "He's body will implode and will be destroyed. Even if he is a phoenix-form GF, he has a low chance of being reborn." Odine targeted the pistol to Phoenix and charged it. When the red bird heard the humming of the pistol, his body moved somewhat in its own accord and flew away. The other GFs followed Phoenix shortly.

Phoenix stopped in the Great Salt Lake. There, he continued to his rampage. The other GFs landed and tried to come closer to their comrade. "NO!!" The GFs stopped. "Please… D-Don't come near me…"

"But Phoenix…" Cerberus pleaded.

"You heard w-what Dr. Odine said… I'm dying… And if you come closer, you might get caught on what will happen… to me…" Phoenix said slowly, softly and sadly…

"But we can't just leave you like this!" Alexander spoke. "Come on, if we hurry back, we might still get you to Dr. Odine."

Phoenix shook his head and tears were forming in his nearly shut eyes. "No… I can feel it… We won't make it in time…" Phoenix went silent for a while then started laughing weakly. The others were confused on what he might have found amusing. "How ironic… The phoenix is the symbol of eternal life but now, I'm the first one to go…"

"Phoenix…" Cerberus called softly.

Phoenix moved his head so he can look at the three headed canine. _I'm sorry…My friend…_

Cerberus shook his head and hung them low. _No, I should be the one who should be apologizing. You're in great pain and there's nothing I can do to help. _Cerberus looked up to the sky. _Ever since we were young, you were always helping us and a GF, that can't heal others, like myself, can't return the favor when you're injured._

Phoenix chuckled a little then went to a coughing fit. _Why do you want to return that favor so much?_

_It's the least I can do. Besides…_ Cerberus looked towards Phoenix with a small smile. _That's what best friends do right?_

Phoenix smiled as well. _Yeah... _

Indeed, the two are best friends. Ever since they were created, Cerberus and Phoenix would always be together on their free time, talking about anything and everything. They would occasionally play around and train together. Having worked well together, they are usually together on missions.

Suddenly, the red bird started screeching again and brought another wave of worry to the GFs. "I g-guess this is it for me… Farewell, my friends… Farewell, Kerub…"

"Farewell, Fenikk…" Cerberus mumbled.

Phoenix screeched even louder and his body started to glow brightly. Small stones and bones were being drawn to his body. This happened for seconds until Phoenix imploded completely and his body erupted. The GFs looked for any remnants of their comrade but nothing was left except some of his feathers. One feather in particular was caught on Cerberus' fur.

The Guardian Forces went back to Odine and got the rune string they needed. Also, they received several spheres that contained the rune string that was supposed to be given to the others. The GFs went back to Trabia and all the time, Cerberus kept his distance from the others.

Cerberus was on the coastline, looking towards the horizon. He kept silent and steady; listening to the sound of the wave and wind.

The other GFs went closer to their distraught friend to comfort him but none of them seemed to have succeeded. Alexander felt a power surge and scanned the area. He found nothing about the energy until he looked towards Cerberus. Alexander tapped the canine GF softly. Cerberus faced Alexander and saw the castle pointing to the feather. "Phoenix…"

Cerberus snorted. "I know it's from him… I don't need a reminder…"

"No. I meant that the feather IS Phoenix." Alexander stated.

The other GFs stared at the feathers and Cerberus laid it on the ground with his paw touching it so it won't fly away. The feather started to glow. "Ugh… Hey… Where am I?"

Cerberus was so shocked. 'That voice… It can't be…' "Phoenix?"

"Cerberus? Is that you? Why have you all grown bigger and why are you stepping on me?" Phoenix asked.

"It seems like the feather have Phoenix's power but this one has his thoughts." Carbuncle said.

After recovering from the shock, Cerberus explained to Phoenix everything what has happened from the time he "died." All day, the two just talked to each other; both are just happy they were reunited.

* * *

Wow... What a long chapter...

The names Fenikk and Kerub are made up names. Somewhat like the nicknames kids give to each other. The basis though would be their Japanese names.

Sorry for a sucky ending but still give your reviews. They are much appreciated.


	13. Chapter 13

Alexander stood in the middle of Trabia snowfields. With his height, he could see Trabia Garden being constructed, Shumi village on the horizon and Trabia Canyon in the mountains near him. Everything looked quiet. Compared to their time, the monsters and humans seemed to have a definite boundary in terms of space. The humans rarely go out of town and disturb the monsters. On the other hand, the monsters stay away from towns since humans have developed technology to fight more efficiently.

While scanning the area, the holy castle GF sensed a presence approaching him. He looked towards its source and saw a woman with black hair, looks like in her twenties, and wearing an elegant yet simple black dress. The woman was walking slowly through the snowfields. The woman stopped at a considerably long distance from Alexander. She looked up to face the giant GF with a smile. With the distance between them, the woman didn't have to strain her neck.

"Who might you be, young lady?" Alexander asked.

"Edea… Edea Kramer…" The woman said.

Alexander kept silent for a while, thinking about the woman's name. "Edea Kramer? The wife of Cid Kramer, the head of the Garden Project, Edea Kramer?" Alexander asked with fascination in his metallic voice.

Edea laughed softly at the castle. "Yes, that is me."

Alexander was thrilled, to put it simply. He and the other Guardian Forces have heard of the couple who planned to create Garden, a place for orphaned children to live peacefully. "I must say, I admire your. You created Garden to be home for orphans right?" Edea nodded. "What made you start the project?"

"Well my house is an orphanage." Edea explained. "I raised seven children until they were all adopted. After they left, I missed the feeling of being with children so I started Garden."

Alexander nodded then bowed to the young woman. "On behalf of the Guardian Forces, I pray for the success of Garden."

Despite receiving a good comment, Edea's smile faded. She hung her head low and shook her head. "I am not quite sure about it right now…"

"Why not?" Asked Alexander; cocking his head to the side.

Edea turned around and looked towards the sky. "My husband wants to turn it into a training facility: a facility to train how to fight the sorceress." Edea sighed.

The holy castle GF looked towards Trabia Garden while contemplating on the fact he was told. "Well… From how I see it..." Alexander started. "It is unfortunate that the children will be trained for battle but I can also see a point in Cid's idea."

Edea quickly turned around and stared at Alexander incredulously. "What?!"

Alexander crossed his pillar arms on his chest, his body creaking at is motion, and stared at Edea. "It is true that children should be kept away from anything that relates with warfare. However, if the sorceress continues her tyranny in Gaea, the children would suffer in a world of chaos. That is a future that should not be given to anyone: adult or young, human or not." After explaining, Alexander puts his pillars down gently and leaned on them.

Edea hung her head low and nodded. "I see… So does that mean you are against the sorceress?"

Alexander nodded this time. "If the sorceress is anything like the sorceress of our time, it would be better if she is relieved of her powers." Alexander said flatly.

There was brief silence between them until Edea spoke. "Then you must be destroyed…"

"What?!" Alexander looked towards Edea and noticed something peculiar. Edea was emitting a dark aura that could only be seen or sensed by those who can use magic. 'That aura… It's similar to Hyne's…' Alexander thought.

"Those who are against the sorceress will perish!" Edea shouted. Her aura grew stronger and darker in Alexander's vision. "Garden WILL be annihilated."

The holy castle flinched at the woman's threat but recovered quickly. "What are you saying?! What about the children?!"

Edea laughed evilly but softly. "They do not matter." She looked up at the holy GF and Alexander noticed her eyes held anger, wrath and death. "If they will follow that fool, Cid, then they must die."

"Edea… Are you… A sorceress?"

Edea smiled at Alexander devilishly. "Indeed." Replied the sorceress. Edea's clothes then started to change into her black sorceress robe, headdress. "I am Sorceress Edea, successor to Sorceress Adele."

Alexander suddenly felt stupid. How could he not sensed the aura earlier? And why would a woman as Edea come to Trabia all by herself? The castle GF stood up straight and raised his pillars threateningly. "You won't get away with what you're planning. The other Guardian Forces and I will stop you." Alexander warned.

"That is if you can contact them." As soon as Edea spoke, a large magic circle appeared underneath the two. On the boundary of the circle, a transparent force was growing, rising, curving, converging on top of the center of the circle. The force created an invisible dome, enveloping the sorceress and the GF. The scene around them was then being warped. "This dome can block anything including your mental links with the others. While inside this dome, we are as if in another dimension; detached from the one you know." If Alexander could gulp, he would. "So will you still fight?" asked the sorceress.

Alexander was afraid. He knew that there is a low chance of him winning against her but even if it is low, he had to try for the positive result. "There is no way I will let you leave this with your powers." Alexander raised his right pillar and smashed it on Edea's point. Considering his height and structure, he was fast that one could only see a blur before the attack.

All of the other GFs felt something strange. The sensation was as if something was taken from them. All of them made a sweep of their mental link when they realized. "ALEXANDER!!" they all cried in unison. All of them traveled all around Gaea in search of their comrade while trying to contact him.

With the powers of the GFs and their number, it would take only an hour or two to make a full sweep of Gaea. None of them however found Alexander that is until Carbuncle was prowling the snowfields of Trabia. _Guys, you better come quickly!_ Carbuncle sent through the mental link.

Moments later, all of the GFs, Phoenix included (Phoenix, in feather form, was latching on the ear of Cerberus), were assembled behind Carbuncle. They were confused why he was staring off to the distance.

"Carbuncle, what's wrong?" Minotaur asked.

"There's a barrier here." Carbuncle informed.

The others looked closely in front of them but couldn't find any trace of the barrier. Sacred picked up a stone and threw it in front of him. The GFs were surprised to see it bounced off something. "Could this be where Alexander is?" Siren enquired.

Carbuncle nodded. "I'm sure of it. But we better be careful. I sense strong magic from within."

"Alright then. Everyone, try to use your attacks on the shield. It's best if we aim it at a single spot to weaken it." Pandemona ordered. Once the other GFs understood the plan, they executed their actions.

Alexander smirked having squished his enemy. That was, however, until he felt something pushing up on his pillar. He saw that there was another dome of energy below his pillar and inside the dome was Edea. 'So that's why she didn't even make a move to evade my attack…' The castle thought.

"Was that the best you can do?" Edea said from under Alexander's pillar. The sorceress pointed her right palm of the pillar. From her hand, a pulse was created and it was strong enough to push back Alexander. Once the giant was off of her, Edea removed the shield around her.

Alexander quickly stood up. "I won't be beaten by you, you witch!! HASTE!!!" A golden clock appeared above Alexander. The hands on the clock started moving and were speeding up until the clock disappeared. With his new speed, Alexander tries to flatten the sorceress a few more times but all of the times, Edea blocked it. "HOLY!!!" The field around Edea was starting to break apart.

"Reflect…" A green barrier appeared around Edea. Once the barrier was established, the field around the sorceress came back and the field around Alexander started to break apart.

Alexander got hit by his own holy magic but was unharmed. "You do know that I am the entity of Holy? I will not be harmed by my own spells."

"Flare…" The castle felt energy building up in his body. The energy was rising to the point of creating an explosion, which it did. Edea's magic made a significant damage on the giant GF.

"SHELL!!" Alexander yelled. A pink sphere was forming around Alexander. The sphere disappeared once the barrier was completed.

"That will not save you. Give this battle up." Edea said. Edea raised her right arm and summoned her Ice Strike. She then flung them to Alexander. The castle GF tried to block it with his pillars. The icicles pierced his arm so that they were sticking out from where they entered. Alexander screeched in pain. He brushed his other pillar on his injured one to break the icicles off.

'At this rate, I won't be able to beat her… Even if I use Dispel, she can just cast spells faster than I can…' Alexander thought. It was a good thing that Edea was not attacking him or he would be done for. The castle looked to the cannons on his shoulders. 'If I use Conforto Lux Lucis, she'll be healed as well… So…'

"What is your decision?" Edea asked.

Alexander was quite for a moment before he stood up straight and opened the cannons on his shoulder. "I will destroy you now…"

"You are going to use your Limit Break on me?" Asked Edea in an amused manner. "If you will use that at point blank range, you will just get hit." She then pointed to the damaged part of the giant's body. "With the condition you are in, you will be destroyed."

"I'm willing to take that risk." Having that said, Alexander started to charge his cannons to full power. The barrels of the cannons started to shine. "HOLY JUDGEMENT!!" The lasers flew up into the air then lingered around at the top of the dome. They then crashed to the ground where the sorceress and the GF were standing. Both got hit and cried in pain. The barrage continued on for seconds before exploding with great force.

Alexander fell on the ground. His body was twitching and sparking. Parts of his mechanical body were spread across the field. With the energy he had, he looked towards Edea, through the smoke. He could only see a shadow but it looked like it was limping.

When the smoke cleared, Edea was limping. Her body took a huge hit from the beams. She was clutching her left arm with her right arm. She then looked towards Alexander to see him scared and injured. "It looks like you are an interesting creature…" Edea said with a little amusement in her voice. She then started walking to the fallen GF. "I never thought that you would injure me and stay alive at this point. I may have use for you." Edea raised her right arm and placed her palm on Alexander's face. The spot she was touching glowed a little with a purple light. The sorceress brought back her arm not long after the light went out.

Alexander felt fine at first until he noticed his pillars were turning into sand and the sand was flowing towards Edea. "W-What did you do to me?"

"I'm just absorbing you into my body." Edea said flatly as the sand continues to flow to her. "You proved yourself to be worthy as my servant and prisoner. I will take your power."

Alexander started to panic. He tried to stand up but his body seemed to be betraying him. He also tried to bring his form back but failed on it as well. The castle prayed to any higher power to save him or at least, his teammates.

Outside, the GFs were about to use their attacks on the shield when they felt it fluctuate and was starting to disperse from top to bottom. Once the shield was no more, they saw Edea was standing in the middle of the area and there was no sign of Alexander.

Edea looked up to the GFs and grinned. "It looks like you're much too late."

The GFs were confused until Leviathan scanned the debris around her. "The debris… They have Alexander's energy signature…" Leviathan gasped.

The others looked towards the serpent GF and were shocked beyond all beliefs. They then turned to Edea. "What did you do to him!?" Quezacotl cried.

"Do not worry. He is still alive." Edea assured. "He will remain inside me and there is nothing you can do about this. Death to all who oppose the sorceress!" Edea said as she disappeared into a portal that had appeared underneath her, leaving the GFs stunned.

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Sorry for the sucky ending.

What do you guys say of my story of how Alexander was in Edea?

Please review.


	14. Chapter 14

I hope you guys like this version of how Carbuncle was taken by the Iguion.

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Carbuncle flies around the skies of the Galbadia continent cautiously. After the abduction of Alexander, the remaining Guardian Forces have gone to high alert. Now that they knew Edea was after them, they had to be ready for anything.

The ruby powered GF was flying over Deling City when the gem on his forehead began to glow. Carbuncle stopped his flying and concentrated to analyze why his ruby reacted. 'It seems that the sorceress is nearby…' He tried spinning around, facing different directions to try and pinpoint where the signal was coming from but the signal was constant.

In disappointment, Carbuncle hung his head down and that was when the ruby reacted strongly. 'Edea is in the city? That cannot be good…' Carbuncle stayed in the air, thinking of what to do. He was about to call the other GFs. 'Wait… If we rush in, it will get too much attention and we won't be able to get near her…'

_Guardian Forces, respond! _Carbuncle sent through their mindlink.

_Go ahead, Carbuncle. _Pandemona's gentle voice said. _We're listening._

_I have spotted Sorceress Edea. She is in Deling City._

_She must be there to talk with the Galbadian President. _Phoenix stated.

_Alright, we'll be there in a minute._ Pandemona spoke once more.

_No!_ Sent the ruby GF. The other GFs raised one of their eyebrows. _I'll survey her for a bit. I won't attack her yet but if by an hour, I haven't reported anything, come to Deling._ A series of 'Yes' was his reply. With that, Carbuncle goes into Deling City.

Edea was walking through the arcade district in her normal human form. Carbuncle jumped over the buildings while keeping an eye on his target. It was convenient that he was small enough to not be detected by any humans.

Carbuncle followed the sorceress around town, passing the Galbadia Hotel then the station, the Gateway then stops at the Presidential Palace. Carbuncle stood on top of a lamp post in front of the Palace.

Edea stared at the Palace then walked towards the closed gates. Instead of stopping to open the gate, Edea used her skills to pass through the gate without damaging it. Once she was inside the compound, the sorceress changed her clothes into her black robe and headdress. She then proceeded to enter the building.

Carbuncle floated above the gate of the palace and looked around the compound. He then found Edea at the lobby of the palace with President Vinzer Deling. The gemstone GF quickly hid into a nearby tree and watches the interaction of the two inside. He couldn't hear, read their mind or their lips but Carbuncle knew that the President was making a big mistake by conversing with Edea.

Edea and Vinzer talked for minutes before they went their separate ways. Edea came out of the Presidential Palace and passed the gate in the same way she went in. Carbuncle followed her outside but was surprised that the sorceress was standing in the middle of the road, staring at him. "I know you have been following me." Edea stated.

Carbuncle suddenly felt fear grip him hard. "H-How long have you known?"

"Ever since you entered Deling City airspace." Edea turned around to look at the Gateway. "I deliberately let you find me and it looks like I succeeded." Edea turned around once more to face Carbuncle. The gemstone GF was silent but was glaring at the sorceress. Inside, however, Carbuncle was doing his best to contact the other Guardian Forces but he was having a tough time doing so.

"That won't work." Edea said and snapping Carbuncle out from his attempts. "I created a barrier around the city when you entered it. It can block your mental communication and at the same time, trapping you here. Even if you could contact your friends, time has stopped outside of this barrier." Edea chuckled at the horrified look the GF made.

"So that's how you trapped Alexander…." The little GF shook his head and glared at the sorceress once more. "Where is he!?" Carbucnle yelled. In response, Edea raised her right hand and on it was a glowing orb. The orb would sometimes release a pulse of light. At every pulse, Carbuncle sensed Alexander's life energy.

"Do not worry…" Edea reassured. "He is still fine. Besides, you will be joining him shortly."

Carbuncle rose up higher. "I would like to see you try! CRIMSON RAY!!!" Carbuncle raised his head up and his ruby lit up. He then pointed the jewel to Edea and a bright red beam of light shot out of the GF's head. Edea raised her right hand with the palm facing the beam. When the beam struck, it was spread out into smaller beams. The beams zipped through the air, destroying the first thing they touch.

"I believe it's my turn? Flare…" Edea said. An orange energy ball appeared in her hand and she threw it towards Carbuncle.

The gemstone GF expected the attack and pointed his ruby to the ball. The flare ball was absorbed by Carbuncle's ruby. "You're magic is of no use against me! REFLECT!!" Carbuncle shouted. The flare ball left the small creature and went back to the caster. Edea didn't make any move to avoid the orb. The orb exploded upon contact, cries of panic from the people in the city could be heard. When the smoke cleared, there wasn't anything left except for a crater on the street. Carbuncle growled at the sight. He knew this wasn't over yet.

It was then that he suddenly felt a presence to his right. He faced right and saw that Edea was standing in the middle of the road, ready to attack with a psychic shock. Edea attacked with an invisible force. The ruby on the GF flickered and when the shock came, a blue wall appeared in between the attack and its target. "Give it up! Even if you do attack me my surprise, I am the Guardian Force of Magic Barriers! You won't be able to hurt me!"

"Very well… Let us see if you can protect the other humans…" The sorceress spoke. With that, she levitated up and towards the arcade district.

"She can't mean…" Carbuncle rose up as well and followed the sorceress towards the busy part of the city.

Once Carbuncle was over the arcade, he saw numerous humans running away. On the ceiling of one of the shops, releasing psychic shocks to any human she see and using her magic to destroy cars and buildings.

"There's too many of them…" Carbuncle whispered to himself. He quickly thought of a plan and realized a way to counter Edea. Carbuncle's ruby lit up once more with great intensity, bathing the surroundings with crimson light. "MIGHTY GUARD!!" all of the humans in the arcade section had a sphere created around them. "There! That should keep her from attacking them…"

"Very clever." Edea said to Carbuncle. The gemstone GF glared at the sorceress and growled. "I commend you on thinking of a way to protect these insects."

"I won't let you harm them… You may destroy the buildings here but you won't lay a finger on the humans!" Carbuncle warned. With that, the two went at it again. Edea used her magic and attack but was blocked by Carbuncle's barriers. The latter used his magic and Crimson Ray but was blocked as well. More structures were destroyed from the bouncing attacks.

After numerous rounds, Edea spoke. "I have had enough of these foolish games. Now, let's see if you can protect yourself from this! ULTIMA!!" Suddenly, the surroundings disappeared.

Carbuncle quickly went into his defensive pose. "Damn… She knows I can't reflect an all enemy magic… But no matter…" The ruby on the GF's forehead began to shimmer and a pink sphere appeared around him.

"There… Dispel!!" Edea yelled.

The sphere around the GF started to crack then break into shards. "What!?" Having the barrier destroyed, the Ultima spell resumed. An orb of light appeared over Carbuncle. The orb grew and grew, absorbing energy from the surroundings. After absorbing energy, the orb exploded, causing heavy damage to the small GF. The surroundings came back after the explosion. Carbucnle crashed to the ground then tried to stand up once more. He looked up to Edea and so her smiling at him maliciously.

"Now that I can attack you properly, this will be over in a second." Edea stated.

The gemstone GF stood up and rose up into the air once more. "You just got lucky. I won't be beaten by you!"

With her new strategy, the sorceress continues her battle with Carbuncle and their battlefield was the whole city. Every time the GF conjures up a shield, Edea would just break it apart with Dispel and attack without giving the enemy the time to create another barrier. However, even without his protective spells, Carbuncle was proving to be a tough nut to crack. The smallest of the GFs was very nimble and managed to evade a lot of Edea's spells and attacks. Ultima and Tornado were the only ones he could not evade.

In the end, Carbuncle was defeated. Having no ability to counter Edea' dispel, he was defenseless against the damage. He has also exhausted himself from evading, attacking and usage of curative spells. The gemstone GF tried the sorceress' strategy and was able to dish out some damage but not enough to beat the sorceress.

The two was back on the intersection between the Gateway and Presidential Palace. This was the last place where they last fought; craters filled the area and burning trees, grass and cars where all over. Carbuncle was laying on the ground, trying his best to stand up but to no avail. In front of him, Edea watches the GF with amusement in her eyes. "You look so pitiful…" Edea laughed.

"S-Silence you…" The gemstone GF grunted.

Hearing the little one talk so weakly made the sorceress smile bigger. "I have to admit, you are strong. So you should be thankful… That I will absorb you as my own Guardian Force." Edea brought her right hand up so that the palm was hovering over Carbuncle's head. The GF tried to move away, knowing that if he meets Alexander inside Edea, the gemstone GF couldn't face his comrade.

As Edea was trying to absorb Carbuncle, electricity surged through her body, distracting her from the draw process. Edea tried once more but failed again but this time, Alexander's voice rang in her head. "I will not let you take any more of my brethren!"

The sorceress was released from Alexander's trap and stared at the GF in front of her. "I see… So I won't be able to absorb you… But my pets can…" Carbuncle was lifted into the air by Edea's magic. The small GF couldn't move a muscle or speak. He was then flung towards a gargoyle on the Gateway and disappeared. "There… You shall be imprisoned in that statue for all eternity!" Edea laughed.

The barrier around Deling City dispersed after the battle and the other GFs suddenly felt that Carbuncle's energy vanished.

They went towards Deling City and saw the city in shambles. They searched for any sign of their friend or the sorceress but there were no sign of them anywhere. With that, they just thought of the worst case scenario and vowed that they would get their revenge for Alexander and Carbuncle.

* * *

The update of this fanfic might turn irregular since I'm pretty busy and I'm also continuing my other fanfic, "Digimon Savers: Secrets of the Royal Base". I'll try to update this as much as possible. Earliest would be in a week.

Please read and review.


	15. Chapter 15

Sorry for not continuing this for a while. I tried my hand at writing a different project. I'll try to continue this as much as I can.

For now, here is chapter 15.

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It has been months and Sorceress Edea has become quiet. There have been no attacks from her side except for the occasional wild monster attacks. The Guardian Forces, even though they looked very calm, were very shaken up with the defeat of their two comrades: Alexander and Carbuncle in the hands of the said Sorceress. Also, with the disappearance of Tiamat, Griever and Bahamut, the rogue GF assassin roaming around and the training of Tonberry and Cactuar, the odds were not looking too good for the Guardian Forces.

Even though there haven't been any recent attacks, the remaining GFs made it a habit to patrol the air, land and seas of the world. Out on the open seas, a winding current moved through the waters. Leviathan slithered through the salty seas, scanning the shores and waters for any sign of the sorceress and her posse.

As the sea serpent came nearer the central isle of Gaia, he could see the half complete form of a huge compound. 'Could that be… Garden?' Leviathan stopped at the shoreline and rose from the waters. He floated into the air and slithered through it gracefully. He moved towards the construction site and marveled at the parts that were already built.

The main platform of Garden was built; a huge circular bridge and central platform was constructed over it. Roads were already there, connecting it to Balamb town. On the outside of the platform, the sections were being made. One looked like it was going to be a dorm area, one is a parking area, one is an open space zone but the others were hard to distinguish. Beyond them, the lands looked like they were modified to be turned to gardens and fountains. Lastly, on the outermost part, a huge ring was being constructed.

Leviathan was such at awe that he didn't sense the approaching metallic entity. "INTRUDER!" A loud, booming voice echoed, stopping the workers and capturing the attention of the spectator. Leviathan visually jumped at the sight of a floating green pod. The pod looked mechanical with a huge dome above it and two red orbs flashing menacingly at the GF. "WHAT… REASON… BEING HERE?" The loud voice from the pod said. A second later, a group of humans, who were in military gear, came and raised their weapons upon sighting the "intruder." They audibly gasp at recognition of their target.

"Forgive me. I didn't mean any harm." Leviathan defended. "I was just marveling at this structure."

"Sir Leviathan!" A soldier called out as he approached the serpent. Leviathan looked towards the man with a confused gaze. "Sir, please pardon us. We didn't know it was you." The man then faced the titanic pod. "Sir, this is Sir Leviathan, Guardian Force of the Water. Please he means you or the Garden no harm."

"GUARDIAN FORCE!" The pod then descended slowly to the ground. The humans scrambled to get out of the way. The pod landed, causing the ground to tremble slightly. The machine then opened up; gears spinning, metal shifting, revealing a giant humanoid entity. The form was that of a human but it was as big as a house vertically. The humanoid had huge hands and a huge chin as well. The humanoid stood in front of Leviathan. "I AM NORG… A SHUMI…" The humanoid announced.

Seeing that the "Shumi" didn't attack, the serpent nodded, still keeping his guard up. "Nice to meet you. As the guard said, I am Leviathan, a Guardian Force." He then looked towards construction site where the workers continued with it. "I must say, I am impressed with the work put into this project."

Norg faced towards the building as well. The humans, seeing that the two weren't fighting, went back to their posts. "THIS IS… COMBINATION OF… HUMANS' AND SHUMI TECHNOLOGY…" The giant said seriously.

"Such a beautiful creation, is it not, Sir Leviathan?" A cheerful male voice spoke.

Leviathan and Norg turned slightly to see Cid Kramer walking towards from the construction site. The middle aged man was carrying a clipboard. "Ah Mister Kramer, how are you? The Garden is becoming a very magnificent sight." Leviathan chimed.

"Well it must be since it will be sheltering orphans." Cid stated softly. He then smiled up to the serpent. "I'm fine. Thank you for asking."

Norg made an unusual sound that was like 'Bujururu' before pointing his large right index finger towards the human. "HOW ARE… INTERNAL CONSTRUCTIONS?"

Cid held up his clipboard and was scanning through the documents attached. "The cafeteria and infirmary structures are finished." Cid stated before flipping over a page. "The transformation mechanism in the underground level is in the final phase of construction." Another page was flipped. "Your chamber is halfway finished. With the machinery you provided, there have been no accidents during the construction." Cid continued on stating the details, zoning out the environment.

"Ummm…" Leviathan voiced with his head turned to the side. The two instantly looked towards the serpent: one looked with instant worry and the other was confused but didn't really care.

Cid instantly went over to the water GF. "Sir Leviathan, what's wrong?" Worry was evident in his voice.

Leviathan just shook his head and flapped his right main fin. "I'm alright. I was just confused about why the Garden has a transformation mechanism… What will it transform into and transform for?"

Cid laughed good-naturedly while a snort came from the giant in the pod. "Well it is just a defensive measure really. The Garden is-.""ENOUGH!" The giant shumi loudly interrupted the human. This caused the other two to jump at his sudden intrusion.

"FORGIVE ME BUT… WE WOULD LIKE TO KEEP… THAT INFORMATION CLASSIFIED…"

The serpent stared at the shumi curiously and the latter stared back seriously. A moment of eerie silence swept through the area. The sound of the construction was somewhat drowned out by the feeling of light and dark auras that Cid could feel emanating from Leviathan and Norg, respectively. "A-alright, then…" Leviathan dismissed. He then turned to the human. "Well, I should get going. I still have patrol duties to attend to. See you again soon, Sir Cid." The serpent bowed before turning towards the colossal shumi, doing the same thing. Leviathan slithered silently towards the ocean and out to sea. All the while, Norg kept the GF in his sight.

That night, the Guardian Forces converged over the Kashkabald Desert. The cold night wind in the area would give shivers to humans but were nothing for the GFs. In the distance, one could see the desert island, commonly known as Cactuar Island, where most of the cactuars and the semi-GF Jumbo Cactuar live.

The remaining Guardian Forces formed a circle in the same way they do during meetings. Pandemona, the acting leader stepped forward. "Alright, everyone. Report." The wind humanoid beast ordered.

"Trabia continent, no abnormalities." Siren stated.

Zaburo turned his head to face Pandemona as the samurai was sitting on his spot. "Centra continent is clear." Zaburo said calmly.

"We were unable to find Edea in Galbadia continent." Cerberus spoke before Phoenix's feather, which was sticking out from behind the middle head's right ear, glowed. "We also asked the people of the towns and no one has seen a sign of her or her monsters." Phoenix's voice said.

The brothers, Sacred and Minotaur, snorted. "It does not seem she's in Esthar either." The older spoke.

The wind GF crossed his arms on his chest and lowered his gaze. "This is unnerving. It has been some time since we last heard about her." Pandemona sighed with the air sac behind him visually inflating then deflate shortly. "Considering that she has Alexander and Carbuncle with her, it is amazing she kept hidden for this long."

Lamorak spoke softly. "We still do not know where Tiamat, Griever and Bahamut are."

"Diablos is sealed away, Doomtrain is incomplete and the some of the GFs are still in development…" Ifrit continued.

"Also, with our conditions, it is getting harder and harder to fight." Siren added.

The rest of the Guardian Forces fell silent at the sudden reminder of the tragic facts and events that they have went through their lifetime. The atmosphere around the group quickly became heavy and thick with sorrow, adding coldness to the already frigid desert night air.

Pandemona cleared his throat which snapped the GFs out of their brooding. "Our force may have weakened but we cannot give up." The wind beast encouraged. "We have to continue to fight to bring a bright future for the humans! It's what the others would have wanted…" Pandemona's pain and sorrow was greatly felt from his last sentence. The others stared at their acting leader after his short dialogue.

"Pandemona is correct." Zaburo chuckled which caught the attention of his teammates. "We can't let this generation of humans face the fate of those during our time." The others stared strangely at the samurai which just resulted in a harder fit if laughter from Zaburo with Lamorak and Griflet joining in.

Lamorak stopped laughing for a while to speak up. "Come on everyone. Stop being gloomy!" He gave the GF besides him, which was Sacred, a hard pat on the back. "During these times, we have to keep our spirits up and stay positive."

"They're right." Griflet stated jovially. "There is no point in moping around. We have to move forward and try our best to keep the world safe, no matter what happens." The knight spoke while patting the right head of Cerberus, regardless of the protests he got from the three-headed canine.

A flurry of voices filled the air as the Guardian Forces cheered, laughed and agreed with the three swordsmen. Pandemona looked at all of them and smiled at the happy faces of his companions. 'It has been a while since we had something to be happy about.' The wind GF thought.

It was a good thing no one resided in the continent for miles or they would have heard the voices of the GFs echoing through the night air. "Alright everyone," the substitute leader started. "We still have our duties for tomorrow so I want all of you to get a good night's rest. Dismissed." With that, all of the GFs moved from the circle but stayed close to one another.

Minutes after the meeting, the GFs spent their time catching up with their friends or going over old and new protocols in terms of monster attacks and Edea. After that, they went to sleep by the coastline, for Leviathan, Shiva and Siren's benefits; all but few were asleep though.

Pandemona stood by the edge of the cliff, looking towards the ocean. The last quarter moon and stars were reflected on the water surface. A breeze from the seas swept through the group. The cold wind calmed the GF by the cliff but by only a little. Pandemona stood straight with his arms crossed over his chest. The wind GF let out an uneasy sigh.

Suddenly, soft clicking sounds could be heard in the air. The wind GF didn't even move, already knowing who approached him. "You seem to be troubled, my friend." The stranger said.

"I do not know if I can handle this, Griflet." Pandemona sighed. "I am unsure if I can handle leading them like Tiamat and Griever did."

Griflet cocked his head to the side and stared looked at the other GF curiously. "Why do you want to act like them?"

The wind GF lowered his shoulder in exasperation. "Because they lead us so well. They were kind and supportive yet strict and just. I am afraid that if I do not follow their way, it would lead to our downfall." Pandemona stated sadly.

The knight stepped closer to Pandemona, stopping about his arm length; his eyes never leaving the other GF. "We do not expect you to be like them, or at least I don't. We were surprised that you stood up to take the position in the first place." Griflet lightly chuckled, trying to cheer Pandemona. Based on Pandemona's tense body, it didn't seem to work.

"Nobody showed any interest and I took the initiative before something goes astray."

"We are not children. We have lived for centuries and we are not the type to just panic like that." Griflet pointed out with a mix of glee and hurt. Pandemona lowered his gaze towards the water below silently. Only the sound of the breeze and the waves is heard. The knight raised his left arm and placed his left metallic hand on Pandemona's left shoulder. "You do not have to carry the burden of our losses by yourself. We appreciate what you try to do but we all have our limitations. You can ask us for help if you need it. We would not turn you down."

The violet GF reached for the other's hand and gave it a small pat. "Thank you."

The two took their hands back and just stood there, looking out into the horizon; Griflet standing beside Pandemona as he took his hand back. They just listened and watched everything around them for what seemed like an hour until the knight let out a yawn. "It is getting late. Are you sure you will be alright here on your own?" Griflet asked worriedly.

If Pandemona had a face, he would have given his comrade a gratuitous smile. He just settled for a nod. "Yes. I will be sleeping shortly. I am just waiting for Cerberus' guard shift to begin." The wind GF replied.

"No need." A new voice stated.

The two GFs by the cliff slightly jumped and turned around to see Cerberus watching them while sitting in his haunches. The canine GF's tail wagged lazily while Phoenix's feather waved as it stuck to Cerberus' mane. "We will take over your remaining time." Phoenix's feather glowed as the former vermillion bird's voice spoke.

"We woke up suddenly and now we could not fall asleep. To make our time productive, we figured we would keep you company." Cerberus' middle head said innocently. The right head moved to look at the white knight that was standing next to the wind GF. "It seems that we were a bit late though." The right chuckled gruffly. The left head stared at Pandemona. "Don't worry. You can leave everything to us now. Go." Pandemona and Griflet looked at each other then back to the other to nod. The knight and wind beast started to walk back to the camp when Cerberus spoke once more. "Pandemona…" Pandemona stopped and waited for the canine GF to speak without turning around. "Have more faith in your abilities and ours. Be yourself, do not do things based on how others did it. You are you, not someone else."

The wind GF clenched his fists. "Do not worry. We will free our captured brothers and find the others. We will fight together as we have done before." Phoenix's voice rang. Pandemona merely nodded then followed Griflet to the camp silently.

The next morning, the sun shone brightly over the Kashkabald Dunes. The GFs woke and after conversing a little, went their separate ways to their posts around the world. Leviathan was one of the last ones to leave. He was slithering towards the cliff when Quezacotl appeared above him. "Leviathan, your patrol route goes by Balamb Island, correct?" The lightning GFs screechy voiced inquired.

"Yes."

"I heard that a Garden was being built there. How goes it?"

Leviathan twisted his head from side to side. "It is going well. However, the head of the project, Norg, seems to be a bit stressed on it." The serpent stated wonderingly. "He did not state the reason why though."

Quezacotl shrugged. "Perhaps he is just concerned about completing and perfecting the station." He then spun around in midair gracefully. "Such a noble place deserves the best the world has to offer."

"I agree." Leviathan continued on his way towards the cliffs while Quezacotl hovered above him. When the two reached the cliffs, they said their farewells to each other and went on their way with Leviathan diving into the sea below and Quezacotl flying off towards Esthar.

Days of unfruitful patrols have passed then those days turned to weeks. All the while, Leviathan stopped at Balamb Island, during his free time, inspecting the Garden's development. He mostly spoke to Cid and Norg, when the former was unavailable or nowhere to be seen. During one of his visits, Leviathan did not realize he was being watched from mountains on the far end of the island. There a mysterious figure observed the water GFs interaction with the contractors of the budding facility then much later, left with a wave of his tail. The serpent GF would always report any relevant development in the Garden's construction.

Time passed once more and Leviathan came back to observe the Garden. "SIR LEVIATHAN… GOOD… TO SEE YOU…" Norg rumbled as he approached the GF with his levitating pod.

Leviathan turned, fins waving happily, towards the gargantuan shumi. "Good to see you as well, Sir Norg." The water GF greeted. He then turned back towards the facility. "I can see that the Garden is turning out magnificently." He then looked around himself and Norg; all the while, Norg kept his gaze at the other. "Where is Mister Kramer?" Leviathan asked.

"CID… AT TIMBER… OFFICIAL BUSINESS…" Norg stated nonchalantly.

"I see." Leviathan started. "I am very much excited for when this is completed. I am happy that orphans around the world will find sanctuary here." He, however, heard Norg make a sound that was similar to a snort of disgust. He then looked up questioningly to the shumi. "Was there something wrong with what I said?" Before Norg could answer, the two heard loud growling. Leviathan searched frantically for the source, thinking it was Edea but all he saw was a caravan that had monsters being hauled towards the Garden. "W-What are those creatures for?" The water GF asked nervously.

"FORGIVE ME… CLASSIFIED INFORMATION…"

"Well…" Leviathan started. "I am sorry for being persistent but I really want to know what monsters would be doing inside an orphanage."

"Allow me to explain." A man appeared from behind the pod. He was wearing a maroon and white robe and a head ornament that covered the man's face. "I am a faculty that will work for Garden."

"Faculty?"

The man nodded. "This facility isn't just going to house orphans. It will provide them education and training on combat." The garden faculty explained. "You see, Cid and Master Norg have agreed on turning Garden into a training institution for elite soldiers for easy acquisition of funding."

"You're going to turn the children into mercenaries?" The serpent gasped.

The garden faculty and Norg laughed loudly. "Please, Sir Leviathan. We do not want to call them that. We would like to call them as Special Social Workers."

Leviathan inched back and shook his head. "No… It is not possible that Mister Kramer would agree to that!"

Once more, the faculty member and Norg laughed but this time, there was a hint of malevolence in their voice. "You'd be surprised how low a person would go just to achieve his dream." The faculty member stated wickedly.

Leviathan shook his head more, refusing to believe that Cid, a man the GFs respected so much, would agree to turning children into soldiers. "F-Forgive me but I can't say that I-I agree with this."

"SO… YOU WOULD… DESTROY MY… PRECIOUS CREATION?" Norg asked menacingly.

"N-No but-"

The shumi's pod started to turn around to look at the serpent. "SO IT IS TRUE… WHAT THAT… WOMAN SAID…"

"W-What woman?"

Suddenly, a magic circle appeared on the ground beside the orb. The hole had a vile aura emanating from within it. From the circle, it appeared as if someone was rising from the ground. Leviathan studied the figure appearing from the circle and his eyes grew wide when the circle disappeared and the whole figure was exposed. The one who appeared was none other than Sorceress Edea. "That's one of them, Norg." The woman in black pointed at the serpent. "He is one of those who want to destroy your precious Garden."

"Do not fall for this woman's treachery!" The water GF defended.

Edea looked as innocent as she could and faced Norg. "He lies! Haven't you noticed how he comes here often? He is studying the Garden for weak points so when it is finished, he and his group can come and destroy your work." The sorceress' eyes stared pleadingly at the shumi then looked at the GF with evil eyes.

Norg lowered himself inside his pod then the hatch above him closed. Two orbs at the side of his shell opened and started glowing red. Norg's voice boomed from the armored mechanism. "YOU NOT… WRECK CREATION… I WILL… DEFEAT YOU"

'He has gone mad…' Leviathan quickly got to his fighting stance. 'I just need to incapacitate him.'

"TORNADO!"

Feeling the wind around him quickly turning violent, Leviathan hovered away from his spot where a twister appeared instantaneously. "BLIZZARA!" Just as the water GF was about to stop, a spire of ice appeared before him. Leviathan scrambled around the plains, evading the ice magic.

"Do not underestimate my power with those types of magic." Leviathan warned. "I have trained enough with the Guardian Forces of Wind and Ice to know how to avoid them." As he moved around the field, the aqua serpent studied the pod. He noticed that every time a spell was cast, the orbs on the side shone bright red. 'So I will have to destroy those two to stop his attacks.' From a considerable range, Leviathan opened his mouth wide and launched a powerful blast of water towards the orbs.

Leviathan continued on his attack while evading the spells that were being thrown at him. Whenever, he was able to get close to the pod, Leviathan opened his fins and scratches it against the orbs. After several rounds, both orbs shattered. The pod opened revealing Norg. "MISERABLE PEST…" Norg growled.

"Please Norg!" Leviathan pleaded. "I do not want to harm you! Let me explain myself!"

"Do not listen to him Norg!" Edea cried. "If you let him go, he will call the others."

The water GF's wings stiffened with utter annoyance. He couldn't believe that the shumi would take the word of someone like the sorceress just because of his own selfishness. 'I have no choice… I'll have to use that attack.,,' Leviathan quickly flew towards the middle of the ocean then faced pod. "Prepare yourselves!" The water GF then rushed towards land. Behind him, a huge wave suddenly appeared. "Violent waters, become my avatar. Ravage mine enemies and drag them to your deadly abyss… Tsuna-"

"Would you really continue with that attack with the humans here?" Edea asked. Leviathan looked towards her and saw the human workers being held captive inside a magic barrier. They looked fearfully at the incoming wave.

Leviathan hissed and suddenly stopped by the beach; the ocean calming as quick as it turned violent. "You coward!" The serpent spat. "How could you treat those innocent humans as sacrificial lambs? Hmph… No matter. I can still defeat Norg without using Tsunami." Brave may his words have been but deep down, Leviathan was nervous. He wasn't sure of Norg's capabilities and he couldn't call on his friends without making it look like Edea was telling the truth and endangering the humans.

The serpent thoughts were interrupted by a sharp pain on his midsection. His body instinctively curled in pain. He looked around for the source of the attack. Edea didn't move a muscle, so did Norg and there were no one else around them. He was then struck once more by an invisible force. This time he heard Edea laugh. "Clueless, are we?" The sorceress taunted. "Then let me give you a piece of valuable trivia. Norg has learned a psychic ability. The force you are feeling is compressed air being hurdled towards you by Norg's mind." As if to prove her point, Norg raised his hand and swung it towards Leviathan. At the same time, Leviathan felt a hard invisible object hit him on his head.

Leviathan tried to move around as much as he could so the shumi would have a hard time targeting him. However, it proved to be futile. When the water GF tries to attack he was assaulted with more psychic energy burst. Severely weakened, Leviathan fell by the shore, feeling the waves hit his battered body. _H-Help… Me…_ Leviathan sent through the mental link he shared it the others.

_Leviathan, what's wrong?_ Zaburo asked worriedly.

The water GF tried to slither back into the depths of the ocean with the remaining strength he could muster. _E-Edea… S-She is-! _The message was cut there as a loud piercing howl of pain could be heard around the island. Leviathan was struck with a barrage of psychic attacks. Reaching his threshold, the serpent fell unconscious.

Norg and Edea smiled wickedly at the limp body of their enemy while the humans couldn't hold back their tears from watching one of their defenders fall. The humans were released from their prison and Edea approached the pod. "Now Norg, if you really want to defend this treasure of yours, I would suggest taking this pitiful soul with you." The sorceress gestured towards the unconscious serpent. "He would be able to give you more power to protect the Garden."

Norg wordlessly raised his right hand and pointed it to the GF. Leviathan's body transformed into water and started to move through the air and towards Norg. The water moved to the Shumi's hand and disappeared. When Leviathan's body was gone, Norg laughed. "SUCH POWER… WITH THIS… NO ONE WILL BE ABLE TO… DESTROY MY CREATION!"

Satisfied with Norg's work, Edea face the humans. "Now, speak of this to no one or you will suffer the same fate as he did." With that the sorceress disappeared.

"NOW… GET BACK TO WORK!" The shumi ordered and the humans hesitantly obeyed.

_Leviathan! Leviathan! _Zaburo kept calling from his post at the Northern Esthar Forests but received no reply.

_Could he have been..? _Siren asked fearfully from atop the mountains of Dollet.

_I… I can't sense him anymore… _Lamorak stated. All of the remaining GFs remained silent; all were saddened and angered by the possible status of Leviathan.

* * *

Sorry for any mistakes.

Please read and review. It would be much appreciated.


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